NSUI cries foul on impending recruitment of teaching assistants to Saurashtra varsity, claims rigging of process by BJP members

The National Students' Union of India (NSUI) on Saturday claimed that 'BJP members' of the syndicate of the Rajkot-based Saurashtra University in Gujarat have created a social media group purportedly to recommend the candidates for their recruitment as contractual teaching assistants.

An NSUI leader demanded that the entire recruitment process be held afresh and everything video recorded. Members of the Congress's student wing staged a protest and demanded registration of an FIR against people responsible for "rigging the process" and released what they claimed to be the snapshots of the purported WhatsApp group chat.

On the other hand, Gujarat Education Minister Jitu Vaghani assured that the entire process will be held in a "transparent" manner and selection will be based on merit. He said no candidate will be treated unfairly.

In the WhatsApp group involving a few members of the Saurashtra University syndicate, 23 names were allegedly mentioned as the candidates recommended for the final recruitment as contractual teachers for which the varsity had recently started the process. The interviews of the candidates are slated to begin shortly, the NSUI claimed.

"In the WhatsApp group, BJP members of the syndicate are recommending names of their candidates for the post. They are playing with the future of other candidates when the interview process is yet to begin. The names of the final candidates have already been decided. We demand the recruitment process to be held afresh and everything is video recorded," NSUI Rajkot president Rohit Rajput told reporters.

Saurashtra University Vice-Chancellor NM Pethani, however, said the final interviews had already been conducted for the appointment of 78 teaching assistants. "The interviews were conducted by a UGC committee for appointment of 78 teaching assistants. I have not received any recommendation from anybody. The recruitment is merit-based, and we will select candidates based on merit and marks," Pethani told reporters and added that the final results are awaited.

Education Minister Vaghani said that after learning about the controversy, he talked to the vice-chancellor and instructed him to conduct the entire process with full  transparency. "I talked to the VC over the phone after learning about the controversy surrounding the contractual recruitment at the Saurashtra University. I have instructed him to conduct the entire process with full transparency, based on merit, and to ensure that no candidate is treated unfairly. Additional Secretary, Education Department has also been instructed to take action," he tweeted.