When Party Takes Over the Faculty

Out of the 200 or so seats which have allegedly gone to 8216;8216;VIP wards8217;8217;, 96 have been allotted in Patna University itself. Professor Amarnath Singh, general secretary of the Patna University Teachers8217; Association, says: 8216;8216;Good and meritorious candidates, if they got through at all, have got places in Mithila College, while all the VIP wards have found places in Patna University.8217;8217; According to him, these include relatives or nominees of bigshots from both the ruling RJD and the opposition BJP.

Talking about just one of the departments, Hindi, he points out: 8216;8216;Six out of the 11 selected candidates don8217;t have a first-class degree. And in a subject like Hindi, there are so many students who get a first class. How will students respect teachers like these?8217;8217;

Since the spoils are spread evenly, this is one issue on which the RJD and BJP are united. Both have called the sacking of the two commission members 8216;8216;unwarranted8217;8217; and 8216;8216;unjustified8217;8217;.

The dispute started over the division of marks between the interview and the academic record of the candidate for the selection. The commission used a ratio of 40 per cent marks for the academic record and 60 per cent for the interview, while the universities and the Governor wanted a ratio of 75 per cent for the first and 25 per cent for the interview. This is the norm in other states as well.

The process for filling up the posts started in 1997, but the matter dragged on. Finally, during the tenure of Shamshad Hussain, interviews were completed. The work then passed on to S.D.N. Singh. With Durga Prasad, he compiled the list and last week released it using the new ratio.

Within a few days, the Governor had sacked both the members. Only the third BSUSC member, Himanshu Sinha, was spared as, sources say, he wasn8217;t consulted.

The row over lecturers8217; appointment is the latest scandal to hit the higher education system in the state. 8216;8216;Neither the Chancellor nor the government are bothered. These appointments are like a six-year yojana plan,8217;8217; says Professor Singh.

The delay in filling up posts has meant that universities are being run with half the number of teachers needed or are making do with ad hoc appointments.

Take the case of Patna University. In this round of selections, it was to get 96 lecturers, but the fact is that of its sanctioned strength of 967, it has only 500 teachers. In its Law Department, there are two regular teachers, while the rest are ad hocs. In the art college, which has four batches, the only regular employee is the principal. At Patna Women8217;s College, ad hoc teachers outnumber regular teachers. And in the Magadh Mahila College, the History Department has two teachers in all.

Last week, after the news of the fraudulent list leaked, college students and lecturer-aspirants took to the streets. They sent applications to the Patna High Court Chief Justice and the UGC, demanding a CBI probe.

But if it ever comes, justice may be too late for people like Nitish Kumar and Sunita Yadav.