Madras HC issues notice to Centre on faculty appointments in IITs, NITs

The first bench comprising Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice M Sundar, before whom a plea moved by Advocate VBR Menon as party in person came up, ordered notice to the Centre and posted the case for further hearing to October 13.

Menon in his plea had contended that current qualification criteria and the procedure followed in making faculty appointments are neither transparent nor objective. He said the candidates are unaware of the criteria based on which short lists are made, the weightage given for different components in the selection process and the methodology adopted in making the appointments.

Pointing out that the lack of uniform and transparent criteria has led to corruption, secrecy, mediocrity and irregularities in faculty selection and appointments, Menon said various flaws prevailed in the 2016 Credit Point System based New Recruitment Rules introduced for NITs. Moreover, these rules failed to prioritise the merit of the candidate and with no schemes to attract meritorious candidates, he said.

Also, noting that certain institutes place undue weightage on the institution in which the candidate studied, Menon said the present system has obstructed the advancement of these institutions.

Reluctance in filling existent vacancies despite the availability of meritorious candidates (particularly OBC-reserved vacancies) had led to about 40 per cent of faculty positions remaining vacant, he said and sought the court to direct the constitution of an independent body of experts so that a comprehensive, objective study can be undertaken to revamp the present recruitment process.