BHUBANESWAR: Caught in the tussle between the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the Odisha government over recruitment rules, public universities in the state continue to grapple with vacant faculty positions.It’s been over eight months since Supreme Court stayed the Odisha Universities (Amendment) Act, 2020, stalling the recruitment of faculty members and VCs in universities following a petition filed against the government move by both UGC and retired professor of JNU Ajit Kumar Mohanty.
While two VCs - Sambalpur University VC Bidhu Bhusan Mishra and Shree Jagannath Sanskrit University VC Rabindra Kumar Panda - were appointed since the SC stay, the recruitment of faculty members has been put on hold. DHE officials said the VC recruitments were initiated much before the SC stay.
The Odisha Public Service Commission (OPSC) had appointed around 200 faculty members by the time the SC imposed a stay order on the act. As a result of the stay, none of the 200 faculty members could join the universities. Around 400 more faculty positions are to be filled up after the SC vacates its stay.
In May, the apex court had sought a reply from the state government and set the date for the next hearing on the matter after two months. However, the state filed its reply only recently and the SC has now set the next hearing date in February.
“The state government in its reply has again stated that it has the power to frame new norms governing the universities which are funded and monitored by it. Besides, the government has said that the state-specific law is not violating the qualification norm of UGC for both VCs and faculty members. But our contention is that the state government is committing procedural violations in the process,” said Mohanty, one of the petitioners.
Under the procedural violation, the state government took away the power of recruitment of faculty members of universities from the respective senates and gave it to the OPSC. Besides, the UGC regulations state that appointments of VCs should be done through a search-cum-selection committee that comprises educationists. However, the Odisha act mandates nominee of state government in the committee, preferably a chief secretary level officer.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, UGC chairman Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar said that UGC’s stand is clear on university recruitments by the Odisha government. “The Odisha Universities (Amendment) Act, 2020 is a violation of the UGC Regulations-2018 (UGC Regulations on Minimum Qualifications for Appointment of Teachers and Other Academic Staff in Universities and Colleges and Measures for the Maintenance of Standards in Higher Education, 2018) issued under UGC Act, 1956,” he said.
Stating that the Orissa High Court upholding the validity of the local act in January last year was contrary to the UGC regulations, Kumar added that the UGC is hopeful that the SC ruling will be in its favour. “After the UGC appeal in May and even before that, the Supreme Court had passed judgements cancelling appointments of VCs in Kerala and Gujarat that were found contrary to the 2018 regulations,” he said.