The Hindu: Madurai: Monday, August
29, 2016.
Details
obtained through the Right to Information Act have revealed apparent
irregularities in the appointments of nearly 20 guest lecturers, with salary on
an hourly basis, at the constituent colleges of Madurai Kamaraj University in
the beginning of academic year 2015-16.
Information
provided for requests filed by A.R. Nagarajan, secretary of NET/SLET
Association, showed that many appointees did not meet the qualification
criteria and the appointments were made without forming selection committees or
conducting interviews as procedures demanded.
As per the
documents, most of the appointments were made without prior approval from the
Convenor’s Committee, which was in charge of the administration as there was no
Vice-Chancellor.
The approvals
were instead obtained only for sanctioning of salaries after the appointees
started working in the colleges on an ‘ad-hoc basis.’
Hinting at
appointment of unqualified persons, the documents showed that a candidate with
postgraduation in Commerce was appointed for teaching History at the
constituent college in Kottur near Theni.
Mr. Nagarajan
alleged that many candidates had not cleared National Eligibility Test (NET) or
State-level Eligibility Test (SLET) and they were also not doctorate holders.
“This is
against University Grants Commission regulations. Many of the appointed
candidates also had inadequate experience,” he alleged. For instance, two
appointees for teaching Economics at the college in Andipatti and four
appointees for teaching different subjects at the college in Sattur had no
experience.
On the
contrary, S. Madhusudhanan, a candidate from Madurai who has cleared SLET in
Economics and has seven years of experience, said his application was never
considered. “Though they did not advertise for these posts, I sent applications
several times after knowing about the vacancies. My application was not even
acknowledged,” he said.
For Mr.
Nagarajan’s petition to Chief Minister’s Special Cell demanding investigation
into the appointments, the university authorities responded saying these were
made to tackle the urgent need for teachers.
A letter sent
by the Directorate of Constituent Colleges at the MKU to the Legal Cell
handling petitions at the university said the appointments were ‘purely temporary’
and proper appointments would be made after the appointment of Vice-Chancellor.
When
contacted, P. Vijayan, Registrar (in-charge), MKU, claimed that he was not
aware of these issues as he took charge only recently. “I will enquire and see
if there is truth in the allegations,” he said.
Mr.
Nagarajan, who obtained the information after one year following an appeal to
the State Information Commission, alleged that the information provided was
incomplete and in violation of the order of the commission.
“They had not
provided details on the action taken for my petitions to CM’s Cell and Higher
Education Secretary. I will appeal to the SIC again,” he said.
Documents
showed that a candidate with postgraduation in Commerce was appointed for
teaching History.
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