Teachers and student associations in Telangana are voicing their opposition against the Telangana Universities Common Recruitment Board Bill that was announced by the State government in the Legislative Assembly yesterday, September 12.
The Bill moves for direct recruitment to the posts of teaching and non-teaching staff except in medical universities, as reports suggested. Strongly condemning the move, M Suman Shankar, All State Universities Convenor (Telangana State), Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) and ABVP President, Osmania University, said that the introduction of such a board will bring government involvement in the recruitment of teaching and non-teaching staff. “It will also bring political influence and we are against this kind of involvement,” he added.
The Convenor added that the recruitment board has been proposed for 15 universities that have an autonomous status. “According to the regulations provided by the University Grants Commission (UGC), autonomous universities can hold their own tests. So, why is this being brought up?” he asked.
A Government Order (GO) was issued on June 23 with details about the board. The GO stated that this was being done to bring uniformity, commence expeditious recruitment and look into several issues. A state-level committee had been constituted by the government to make recommendations, stated the GO.
The board would comprise the Chairman of the Telangana State Council of Higher Education, the Secretary to the Higher Education Department, the Secretary of the Finance Department and the Commissioner of Collegiate Education.
At present, 15 State universities are functioning in Telangana, other than medical universities and the recruitment is being done by the universities themselves with prior approval of the State government.
More opposition
Bringing in such a board will take away control from the teachers, other teachers’ associations said. “The whole process will now be interfered with by the bureaucracy. The board is going to have five IAS officers who are already part of the Executive Council (of Osmania University), so it is just a duplication,” said Prof B Manohar, President of Osmania University Teachers Association (OUTA). If the board consisted of professors and other intellectuals, then it wouldn’t have caused any problem, he added.
“This is my house so it should be headed by our people (teachers), not by outsiders,” the President added.
Meanwhile, student associations too have expressed concern over the constitution of such a board. “Everything will be in the hands of the government, what they say will be final. If we lose the autonomous status because of this then we won’t get funds either,” said Ashok from Osmania University Joint Action Committee. Such a provision should be removed so that the autonomous status of the colleges can be protected, he added.
The other side…
On the other hand, some professors believe that it is a positive development for universities. “If there is a common board, then any delay in recruitment can be avoided. Usually, it takes a lot of time to conduct interviews, but this provision will save time,” said Prof Ravinder Yadav, Vice-Chancellor of Osmania University.
Earlier, there were a lot of complaints and court cases when universities would conduct recruitment processes individually, he added. “The board has been constituted to avoid all this. It will ensure transparent and accountable recruitment,” the Prof said.
