THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: There’s a major embarrassment in store for Syndicate members who have alleged anomalies in the faculty recruitment at Kerala University. It has now come to light that the candidate, whom they claimed was ‘unfairly treated’ in the interview to the post of Assistant Professor, did not possess the minimum qualification.
The recent meeting of the Syndicate had witnessed violent protests after a section of the Syndicate members alleged there were irregularities in the award of marks in the interview to the teaching post reserved for the OBC category. The candidate, who was not selected, had approached court alleging foul play. She also had the backing of some Syndicate members who put the Vice-Chancellor in the dock for being the chairman of the interview board.
For recruitment to the Assistant Professor post, a candidate should have cleared the UGC’s National Eligibility Test (NET) or have a PhD degree in addition to post-graduation. Besides, the UGC has laid down a set of five criteria for the PhD to be considered valid.
According to documents accessed by ‘Express’, the aggrieved candidate’s NET qualification was not valid when the post was notified by the varsity. Also, her PhD degree, obtained in 2004, did not meet the UGC-prescribed criteria to be considered as a valid qualification in the interview. In effect, the candidate’s NET or PhD qualification was not valid.
“The candidate failed to produce the certificate showing all the five conditions stipulated in the UGC regulations for PhD degree. The certificate produced by her was not duly signed by the competent authority. Also, her NET qualification was declared eligible by the UGC only with effect from a subsequent date. This shows she was not even eligible to attend the interview,” said a top source.
“Though the anomaly was noticed by the interview board, the candidate was allowed to appear for the interview subject to the condition that she would produce the required certificates within a week. Till date, the aggrieved candidate has not produced the certificate as directed,” the source said.
PhD What the UGC says
PhD degree should be through regular mode only
Evaluation of the PhD thesis by at least 2 external examiners
Open PhD viva voce of the candidate to be conducted
Candidate should have published 2 research papers from PhD
They should have made at least 2 presentations based on PhD
All the above criteria should be endorsed by VC, Pro-VC or Dean.