The State Government is preparing guidelines for the Common Recruitment Board to be created to fill up the 1,892 vacancies it plans to fill up in 11 universities after Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao announced that recruitments for teaching and non-teaching posts will be done through the Board only.
With the announcement, the CM had also ruled out giving the selection job to the Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC), which was earlier thought of. It also means that individual universities will not be entrusted with the responsibility of recruitment after this practice threw up allegations of corruption and inordinate delay due to legal issues.
A senior official revealed to The Hindu on condition of anonymity that Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar will finalise the Centralised Recruitment Board constitution and its guidelines as directed by the Cabinet.
Officials said that the government has obtained details of 1,892 vacant posts in 11 conventional universities in Telangana. The number is likely to increase further with the government also roping in Prof. Jayashankar Telangana State Agriculture University, Konda Lakshman Bapuji Horticulture University, Kaloji Narayana Rao University of Health Sciences and P.V. Narasimha Rao Veterinary University.
Ensuring transparency
The new recruitment process will ensure transparency with the screening test to be made mandatory for elimination before the selection of candidates for interviews. “It will negate manipulation and political influences seen in the earlier recruitments that were based on interviews only. Only the meritorious among all sections will get a fair opportunity and there is no need to approach middlemen for influence,” TSCHE chairman R. Limbadri opined.
The model has been a success in Bihar and a few other States as well. A committee earlier constituted by the government to study the process had submitted its recommendation almost two years ago.
The reasons given for the adoption of the new method was that the individual recruitment process by the universities was leading to delays with the same candidate getting into multiple universities and choosing the better option thus creating new vacancies. For example, a few candidates who first got into Telangana University in Nizamabad left for better opportunities at Osmania University later. “Till now, those vacancies are not filled up thus defeating the purpose of recruitments.”
Officials are also careful to ensure that universities don’t lose their autonomy with the constitution of the new board. They have suggested that the screening test should carry 65% of the total weightage while giving 35% of the weightage to research publications and other academic experiences. Of the 35%, about 10% should be earmarked for the actual interview to negate any influence of this on the final outcome. “Only those with good credentials can get the interview call and this will also cut on legal issues with little scope for candidates to approach the courts on charges of corruption or nepotism,” former TSCHE chairman T. Papi Reddy said.
Will the government go ahead with these suggestions or come out with a few more additions or deletions will be known once the Board constitution is completed. But the new process will surely plug the present loopholes.
