The University of Kerala has decided to resume its ongoing process to make appointments in 105 teaching posts.
The decision to persist with the appointment process that was initiated by former Vice-Chancellor P.K. Radhakrishnan was taken at a special meeting of the Syndicate on Monday.
The move comes in the backdrop of a letter sent by the University Grants Commission (UGC) requesting all universities to suspend teachers’ appointment processes in view of special leave petitions that were filed by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) and the UGC in the Supreme Court regarding calculation of reserved posts.
Unfair practice
However, the Syndicate decided to implement the reservation norms that were laid down by the State government through an amendment brought to the University Act in 2013. Under the amendment, varsities were directed to pool all vacancies together and consider the entire list as a single unit while calculating reserved posts.
The practice of considering departments as separate units was thereby brought to an end, citing the reason that the practice denied opportunities to several candidates who belonged to reserved categories.
In compliance with the law, the university had issued notifications in November 2017, inviting applications to 105 teaching posts, of which 57 were in the reserved categories.
These included 17 out of the 30 Professor posts, 18 out of the 32 Associate Professor posts and 22 out of the 43 Assistant Professor posts.
Condemning the MHRD’s decision to replace the UGC with the Higher Education Commission of India, the Syndicate decided to submit a letter, expressing its concern over the possible ramifications of the move.
The resolution moved by R. Latha Devi witnessed discussions in which the members said the scrapping of the regulatory body would deny the common man a chance to pursue higher education.
It was also decided to undertake the revaluation of answer sheets of the fifth and sixth semesters of undergraduate courses by holding special valuation camps.
The university has also resolved to publish the results by August 13 to enable the candidates to apply for postgraduate courses on time.