Tripura Opposition Leader Urges Governor to Investigate 'Unjust' Hiring Practices at MBB University

AGARTALA: Leader of the Opposition and CPI(M) state secretary Jitendra Chaudhury today raised an alarm over alleged irregularities in the recruitment process at Maharaja Bir Bikram University (MBBU).

According to a letter written by Chaudhury to Governor Indrasena Reddy Nallu, Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr. Satyadeo Poddar had breached recruitment guidelines set by the University Grants Commission (UGC).

The public university MBBU, which was established in the year 2015 with the vision to enhance education, notified 14 teaching positions of Professors, Associate Professors, and Assistant Professors for the various departments on February 8, 2024. 

The Vice Chancellor Prof Poddar, who will leave office by the end of December 2024, seems to be trying to speed up the hiring process illegally.

He argues that a rule dated 2020, issued by the Department of Higher Education under the Ministry of Human Resource Development prohibits Vice-Chancellors even acting Vice-Chancellors from making recruitments within two months after the last day of his tenure. And he charged Prof. Poddar with violating this rule to complete the process before his tenure runs out.

The leader of the opposition also questioned the screening process in which he levelled an allegation against the Vice-Chancellor of favoritism towards some candidates. He even quoted Dr. Pankaj Chakraborty, who had applied for the Associate Professor post in Political Science.

According to certain accounts, initially, the initial screening committee had rejected Dr. Chakraborty's application due to the reason that he failed to complete the UGC criterion of eight years of continuous teaching and research experience against his names; Dr. Chakraborty has only two years of experience.

Chaudhury has alleged that the university, on August 31, 2024, had declared that Dr. Chakraborty was eligible for the position but did not administer an official reverse of the committee's decision.

Jitendra Chaudhury has called for the step taken by the Governor to initiate actions so that recruitment in all higher education institutions across the state is transparent and in UGC norms. The controversy has posed pertinent questions regarding the transparency and fairness in hiring practices in state higher educational institutions.

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