The National Institute of Technology (NIT) Srinagar is likely to issue another recruitment notification for the posts of assistant professors.
The move comes in the wake of “pressure mounted on the NIT administration by the aggrieved candidates who accused it continuing with the ongoing recruitment process despite having discrepancies in it,” sources said.
However, the NIT officials said they were mulling to issue fresh recruitment notification to fill the vacancies at the institute.
“I am working hard to make recruitments at the institute to fill the vacancies and also provide job opportunities to the eligible candidates. The notification will be issued soon after the process of ongoing recruitment will be completed. We have to complete it by March 31 this year,” director NIT Srinagar, Prof. Rakesh Sehgal said, adding that they cannot halt the ongoing recruitment process over allegations of discrepancies.
As already reported by this newspaper, the NIT issued a notification in February 2020 for the recruitment of candidates for the post of assistant professors. The institute advertised 76 positions including 59 posts of grade-I and grade II assistant professor, 13 posts of associate professor and 4 posts of professor.
The recruitment process is at the stage of interviews and is likely to be completed by March 31.
Presently, the total sanctioned strength of NIT is 198 teaching posts of which only 122 are filled and 76 are vacant.
“Earlier, only 80 out of 198 posts were filled but a recruitment was made in 2018 in which 110 posts were advertised but only 42 filled,” Prof. Rakesh Sehgal said, adding that they were never able to fill all the posts advertised in the recruitment notification.
“So in the present recruitment notification, we will be only able to fill around 35 to 40 posts out of 76 posts. So, once we will be free from this recruitment, very soon another notification will be issued,” he said.
Earlier, the candidates demanded that the posts which were advertised in February 2020 should be advertised in the interest of the candidates. However NIT authorities decided to continue the process.
“I promise that I will issue second recruitment notification within two to three months. I also hope that situation will also improve till that time and candidates will not have to travel to Delhi for interview. We will complete whole process here as we did in 2018,” he said, adding that it was second recruitment done after he joined the institute in 2017.
“No recruitment was done at the institute for a decade before my joining here. No director could take up this challenge to do the recruitments here,” he said.
An official said the director will retire in October 2022 after completing his five year tenure at the institute. “But as per norms, the directors are not allowed to make recruitments after completing four years tenure. Though he will stay for five years but recruitments won’t be allowed. That is why the authorities are trying to fill the vacancies at the institute,” the official said.