Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

‘Recruitment in keeping with norms’

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The ongoing recruitment of university assistants at the University of Kerala is in keeping with the norms pertaining to such recruitment and allegations to the contrary are baseless, Vice-Chancellor of University of Kerala M. K. Ramachandran Nair has said.

He was speaking at a press conference held here on Thursday.

The current recruitment during which the university will fill 150 posts of assistant began with a notification issued on March 3, 2005. The present syndicate only decided to go ahead with the process of recruitment. The notification for the recruitment had very clearly stated that the selection would be on the basis of a written examination and an interview. It is because the present Syndicate was sure that the written examination was conducted in a fault-free manner that it gave the go-ahead for the interviews to begin.

However, allegations about the integrity of the interview were raised from certain quarters even before the shortlist of candidates could be published. This time the written examination was given more importance than it had received during previous recruitments. Fourteen years ago, when the last recruitments to the post of assistant was made, the written examination was for 100 marks and the interview was for 25 marks. This is exactly what is being done now also.

He said the allegation that those who performed well in the written examination were being denied marks in the interview with a view to sabotage their possible recruitment was baseless. Those who conduct the interview, including the Vice-Chancellor himself, in no way aware of the marks received by a candidate in the written examination. The marks are being held in secret in the university. So, the question of granting or not granting marks in the interview based on the performance of a candidate in the written examination does not arise. The people who will eventually tally the marks in both the interview and the written test are not connected to the interview board. So, there is no way any candidate can receive preferential or discriminatory treatment in the recruitment process, the vice chancellor explained.

Moreover any person—using the Right to Information (RTI) Act — can access details relating to the recruitment process. Documents relating to the appointment of teachers are already being given by the university to those who desire them, Mr. Ramachandran Nair said.

The actual number of vacancies in the University is about 500. However, since the government made it clear that it would not provide any additional funds for appointments, the university decided to appoint as many assistants as possible without any additional financial burden. This was how the figure of 150 was arrived at.

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