Assam: Bid to make probation mandatory for appointees in colleges

Staff Reporter

Guwahati: The state government has drafted new guidelines for the appointment of college employees. The draft Assam College Employees (Provincialized) Regulations, 2024, which amended the Assam College Employees (Provincialized) Act, 2005, is regarding the appointment of teachers and other staff at provincialized colleges and related employment rules.

The draft regulations provide for a probationary period of 2 years for assistant professors, librarians, and non-teaching staff and 3 years for principals in provincialized colleges.

According to the draft Regulations 2024, subject to the availability of a permanent vacancy in the respective cadre, a person appointed on direct recruitment shall be placed against the permanent vacancy, but he or she has to go through a probationary period, as specified.

The draft provides that probation of assistant professors or librarians or non-teaching staff shall be for a period of 2 years: Provided that the period of probation may, for good and sufficient reasons to be recorded in writing, be extended by the appointing authority in individual cases for any specified period not exceeding a period of two years.

In the case of principals, the probation shall be for a period of 3 years. Before confirmation, the appointing authority shall ascertain that there is no case of conviction/pending court cases that may go against the high office of the post of principal, no evidence of any financial misappropriation, the institution’s performance appraisal in terms of NAAC accreditation, and viable Institutional Development Plans.

Moreover, a candidate for direct recruitment shall produce to the Recruitment Board a certificate of good character from the principal academic officer of the university or college in which he studied last and two respectable persons who are well acquainted with (but not related to) the candidate. A candidate also has to prove physical fitness, and the draft provides that a candidate for direct recruitment shall be of sound health, both mentally and physically, and free from organic defect or bodily infirmity likely to interfere with the efficient performance of his or her duties.

Regarding the age qualification, it is stated that a candidate for direct recruitment shall not be less than 21 years and more than 39 years of age on January 1 of the year of recruitment, with relaxation in case of candidates belonging to special categories like Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and any other category as laid down by the government in accordance with the provisions of law in force.

Regarding transfer after appointment, there shall not be any transfer of employees from one college to another, except in a situation wherein a stream of study or a subject is closed down in a college by the government. Only in such a situation may the government transfer these teachers and adjust them elsewhere. In such a situation, seniority of the transferred teachers would be fixed in the new college on the basis of their date of joining in the original college.

The government shall issue a ‘No Objection Certificate’ to the college employees for applying for admission to courses of higher studies or for applying to other jobs in different institutions/organizations/departments, etc., for which proposals have to be made to the government through the Director, Higher Education.

Also read: Assam: Seminar on 'Impact of NEP 2020 on Education Transformation' Held at Tyagbir Hem Baruah College

Also Watch: