It has been about seven months, yet the form fill-up process for the recruitment of assistant professors in colleges across Madhya Pradesh is still ongoing. According to the latest amendment notice by the Madhya Pradesh Public Service Commission (MPPSC), the last date to apply has been extended till 12 noon on October 30. This has left assistant professor aspirants frustrated, and feeling betrayed.
"The advertisement for recruitment was issued on December 30, 2022, but the registrations are still open for new candidates, and there is no update on the exam date," says Bhaskar Dubey, an assistant professor at LBS College, Ganj Basoda, Vidisha. According to the advertisement, the registration started on March 28, 2023, and was supposed to end on April 27. However, the deadline was extended till July 31 through corrigendum published on January 10. Again, on July 25, it was extended till October.
This is the first time when such a long delay has happened, Dubey says. With the deadline extended repeatedly by the commission, the number of aspirants for the posts has naturally increased. However, the number of posts continues to remain the same, which is 1,600. "Initially we were informed that the recruitment exam would be held twice, once in April and once around July. If that had happened, the seats would have been doubled. But even the first exam procedure is not completed," he adds.
On September 11, Chief Minister Shivraj Chouhan, in a conference of guest scholars and lecturers at his residence, announced that the PSC exam guidelines had been amended and 25 per cent reservation would be provided to guest scholars and lecturers in the assistant professor recruitment exam. A 10 per cent grace in marks would also be awarded to them. The result? Other exam aspirants, who are non-guest faculty, feel disadvantaged and disappointed.
"Freshers in the exam will be the most affected," says Dubey, adding that the 25 per cent reservation breaches the 50 per cent mark in the reservation mandate of the constitution. "We want this reservation and grace marks provision to be taken back," he states.
Though the aspirants have not yet resorted to any physical protests, they have been campaigning against the non-conduction of the exam and amended reservation policy online, especially through storms on X (formerly Twitter). "If the government doesn't listen to us, we will be forced to approach the court," Dubey said.
