Testing times over for 2,800 lecturers: State works around UGC decree

In a breather to colleges and universities,the state government on Wednesday decided to go ahead with the recruitment process to fill 2,800 posts of teachers...

In a breather to colleges and universities,the state government on Wednesday decided to go ahead with the recruitment process to fill 2,800 posts of teachers,which had run into a deadlock following a UGC guideline in July this year mandating that even candidates with a PhD or an MPhil would have to clear NET or SET examinations before being appointed as teachers.

After seeking legal assistance,the state higher education department has now decided that the new UGC regulation will not be applicable for recruiting teachers in colleges this year since the advertisement for the recruitment process was issued months before the latest central guideline came into force.

After a meeting held at the West Bengal State Council of Higher Education on Wednesday and attended by the Vice-Chancellors of various state universities,state Higher Education Minister Sudarshan Roychowdhury said the advertisement for recruitment of teachers in colleges had been issued as per the previous UGC norms and so new guidelines did not apply to the ongoing recruitment process.

Earlier,the West Bengal College Service Commission had stalled the recruitment process of lecturers after receiving the new UGC circular in the first week of July.

The UGC has also left it to the universities the responsibility to check whether they are following the new PhD norms set by it.

Since the process was time-consuming,the Prof Thyagrajan Committee has given the responsibility to the universities to see if the PhDs are following the new UGC regulations. Moreover,most of the universities are following the rules laid down by the Commission and are bringing in desired changes, said Subimal Sen,Vice-Chairman of the Higher Education Council.

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Kolkata
UGC