New Delhi: A BJP MLA from Uttar Pradesh has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleging that the recent recruitment of 40 teaching posts at the Banda University of Agriculture and Technology has been done in violation of reservation rules. This, he said, resulted in the appointment of a high number of candidates from a particular caste.
In his letter to Modi, Brajesh Kumar Prajapati, the BJP MLA from Tindwari in Banda district, alleged that the university had issued two separate notifications, instead of one, to fill 40 vacancies for professors, associate professors and assistant professors with a “devious” intention to “conduct serious irregularities in reservation”.
According to Indian Express, his letter said, “Whenever there is a vacancy, it is decided how many seats will be for reserved category candidates through a roster system. The university did not follow this roster system and filled the seats. There is a 50 per cent reservation as per the rules, but it was not followed.
To make this happen [by avoiding roster system], they [the university] issued two separate advertisements to fill all the 40 seats – 29 at one time and later 11. If the government allowed the university to fill all the 40 vacant seats in one go, then the roster system should have been applied.”
He also marked copies of his letter to governor Anandiben Patel and chief minister Yogi Adityanath.
On June 1 reportedly, the first 29 vacancies were filled, and the MLA accused the university administration of selecting candidates from one particular caste from the General category.
Under ‘unreserved category’, he alleged, among the 15 selected candidates, 11 have ‘Singh’ surname. Besides, seven candidates have been selected under the reservation category while another five vacancies are yet to be filled, the Indian Express reported.
Prajapati demanded the cancellation of recruitment advertisements and they be re-issued.
The state agriculture department said that it did not receive any official complaint or had anyone sought an investigation into the matter.
According to Indian Express, Devesh Chaturvedi, additional chief secretary (agriculture), said, “We are reviewing the documents. Basically, the selection has been made by the university. The interview board has five members, including two external members, appointed by the Governor and one either the dean or another external member. Out of the total weightage, 70 per cent is based on academic performance and the rest 30 per cent on interview. On three posts, there was just one candidate, and the rest of the selections were made on merit basis.”
The daily quoted a university official saying that as far as recruiting more candidates from a particular caste is considered, it can be just a “coincidence”.
