CBSE chairman recruitment : MHRD proposes, ACC disposes

By NewsGram Staff Writer

The panel of names proposed by Smriti Irani-led HRD Ministry for the post of Chairman of Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has been rejected by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC).

The Cabinet secretary had allegedly raised objections regarding the "experience criteria" that has been adopted in selecting them. The decision to scrap this panel of names was taken by ACC's search-cum-selection committee in its meeting held in April. The committee also directed the HRD Ministry to submit the final proposal for consideration before October 31 after finishing its selection process.

The Department of Personnel & Training issued a letter to the Ministry in this regard. The friction between HRD Ministry and the ACC started when the Cabinet Secretary PK Sinha raised several objections regarding the selection criteria adopted by the HRD Ministry and also said that the vacancy circular did not mention the mandatory three-year experience required for a person to be considered, which is one of the recruitment rules and this gave the impression that officials of the rank of Joint Secretary don't have to fulfill the eligibility criteria.

Pointing towards the information provided by the HRD Ministry's proposal, he said the annual confidential reports "have not been taken into consideration while assessing the candidates" as the vacancy circular also sought the annual confidential reports of the past five years from each applicant.

Since December 2014, the position of a full-time Chairman (CBSE) has been vacant. Presently, a joint secretary of HRD Ministry, YSK Seshu Kumar has been entrusted with an additional charge of CBSE chairmanship. However, Satbir Bedi, who was the ministry's top choice for the position as per a proposal sent on June 24 was not considered.