Recruitment sham: Barkatullah University’s interviews last less than 100 seconds

By NewsGram Staff Writer

In what can be seen as a repetition of Vyapam, the Barkatullah University (BU) filled its key teaching positions including those of professors and assistant professors without a written test while conducting interview only for 60-100 seconds.

BU had advertised in 2014 for 30 vacant posts in various departments and around 700 students had attended the 3-day interview, according to a report published in Times of India.

In a letter written by higher education department to Madhya Pradesh's Raj Bhawan, it has asked the Raj Bhawan to take action against MD Tiwari, the vice-chancellor of BU.

The letter states that all the 700 people who had applied for the post were called for the interview without any proper preliminary scrutiny and filtering. Further, the interviews were conducted for just one or two minutes, with the bio-science department interviewing 170 candidates in a single day.

The letter further alleges that to give benefits to the select group of people, the work experience required for the vacant posts were changed from 6 years to 9 years. Also, many students who belonged to unreserved category were interviewed for reserved posts.

The UGC mandates that the selection committee that conducts the interview must have at least one expert from the concerned field. But this norm was clearly violated. The letter claims that the interviews to the posts in limnology was conducted by an expert in bio-technology. Similarly, the interview for aquaculture was conducted by a panel with expertise in genetics.

After receiving complaints from the higher education department, Raj Bhawan has asked for an explanation from BU VC, as per the report.