Bengaluru: Minister for Agriculture Krishna Byre Gowda on Tuesday said the government would constitute a committee within a week to probe the alleged irregularities in filling vacancies for the posts of Assistant Professor and Associate Professor at the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru.
“The committee will be headed by a senior government officer. I will ask the committee to submit the report as early as possible and action will be taken based on the committee report,’’ Gowda announced in the Legislative Council during the Question Hour.
Replying a query from MLC R Chowda Reddy, the minister said the government would not protect anyone if found guilty. “It is true that I too have received some complaints against the recruitment of assistant professors and associate professors. I have told the complainants (students) to submit details to substantiate their allegations,’’ the minister said.
Chowda Reddy asked the minister whether the irregularities in the recruitment of assistant and associate professors have come to the government’s notice. “The recruitment was done against the rules. No recruitment should be done if the Vice-Chancellor’s term is expected to end within six months. Lakhs of rupees paid by the candidates to the UAS staffs,’’ Reddy alleged.
Intervening in the debate, Leader of Opposition K S Eshwarappa demanded the minister to cancel or stay the recruitment for the posts of associate professors and assistant professors. “The UAS staffs got lot of money for recruiting the candidates of their choice. One of the meritorious candidates, Anil Kumar who won a gold medal, was not selected for the post of associate professor. I want the minister to cancel the recruitment till the proposed committee completes the inquiry,’’ Eshwarappa said.
The minister said that he received complaints from Vikash L, SRF, UAS Bengaluru, N. Shashidhar, assistant professor, UAS, Raichur, and Anil Kumar S.N., indicating injustice meted out to them with regard to the direct recruitment made under UAS, Bengaluru.
“In this regard, Registrar, UAS, Bengaluru is directed to verify and submit the detailed report to the government. An anonymous letter in the name of qualified aspirants demanding the justice against the corruption relating the recruitment is also received,’’ the minister said.
According to the minister, the Governor had issued a circular on July 15, 2016 indicating that Universities should not take any major decisions during the last six months tenure of the Vice-Chancellor.
“The process of recruitment at the UAS, Bengaluru began in 2014 and with some modifications it was re-notified finally on November 8, 2016. So, interviews against this notification are conducted during July and August 2017,’’ the minister said.
He said the letter from Governor’s office dated January 18, 2018 to the UAS, Bengaluru directed the University to fill up the vacant posts under ICAR and KVK immediately.
“Based on this letter, the Board of Management in its 377th meeting held on January 29, 2018 taken the decision to fill up the vacant posts. The term of the Vice-Chancellor, UAS, Bengaluru was completed on February 15, 2018,’’ the minister said.
He said that all the four agricultural universities in the state were directed to publish the details of the final recruitment process on their website in a transparent manner so that all the candidates would be able to know the marks secured by them in respect of the post applied for.
“A circular has been issued in this regard on February 17, 2018. We have received complaints against the appointment orders and action will be taken after examining the same,’’ the minister said.
