The appointment process to the post of the Director of Technical Education (DTE), which has been lying vacant for nearly seven years, has come under a cloud of suspicion with various quarters questioning the “hurried nature” of the exercise.
The Higher Education department had notified the appointment process on February 29, nearly two weeks before the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) had come into effect on March 16 on account of the general elections. As many as 10 candidates subsequently submitted their applications before the deadline on March 15.
These include DTE-in-charge Rajasree M.S., Joint Director Ashalatha R., State project facilitation unit Director Shreelekshmi B., APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University Dean (Research) Shalij P.R., College of Engineering Thiruvananthapuram (CET) Principal Savier J.S., Regional Directorate of Technical Education (Kothamangalam) Joint Director Solaman P.A., and the Principals of Government Engineering Colleges in Kozhikode, Idukki, Kannur and Palakkad, P.C. Reghu Raj, Suresh K., Jayaprakash P. and Meenakshy K. respectively.
The candidates have been requested to attend an interview conducted by a selection committee on May 21.
In a statement, Save University Campaign Committee chairman R.S. Sasikumar alleged the process has been expedited when the MCC is in force.
Notably, among the candidates, Dr. Raj, Dr. Rajasree and Dr. Shreelekshmi are due to retire from service on May 31. He suspected the process is being rushed to appoint one of the three candidates before the month end. The appointment would ensure higher salary and pension benefits, he claimed.
