Bhubaneswar: Odisha government is bracing up to go for a massive recruitment of teachers in universities of the State expecting that the litigations relating to reservation of jobs would come to an end soon.
The Odisha high court, which is seized of several petitions by aspirant teachers, has clubbed up the petition for hearing on September 19.
The State higher education department has filed an affidavit in the high court on Wednesday clarifying its stand on the reservation in recruitment of teachers in universities. The department has relied heavily on the government of India’s ordinance regarding appointments in universities. The ordinance clearly states that there would be no reservation in appointments of teachers in scientific and technological research institutions. It, however, says that reservation rules will be applied to other Central universities taking all the teachers strength.
The higher education department has put forth that reservation would be applicable at the entry level posts like lecturer and assistant professor posts. It would be, however, applicable for professor and associate professor wherever the vacancies is more than two.
A division bench headed by justice BR Sarangi has clubbed up the petitions of Dhananjaya Soren, Bairagi Charan Mallick, Khagendra Sethi, Prayas Dandsana and Durga Prasad Barik and posted the case for hearing on September 19.
The petitioners, while claiming that as per the Odisha Reservation of Vacancies Act, 1975 reservation should be followed for all the posts falling vacant, appealed for the scrapping of the State higher education department’s notification. The department has come out with a notification on June 21,2019 extending the reservation to lecturer and assistant profession. It excluded the reservation for professor and associate professor posts. The high court has ordered an interim stay on the notification of June 21, 2019.
The Sambalpur University had come out with a advertisement for recruitment of 46 teaching posts on July 2,2019. While reservation rule was applicable for 20 assistance professor, there was no reservation for 9 professor and 17 associate posts as per the higher education department’s notificatiion. Dhananjaya Soren, Bairagi Charan Mallick and Khagendra Sethi have filed separate petitions in the high court challenging the advertisement claiming that it was violation of the USG rules and guidelines as well as the ORV Act. Similarly, Prayas Dandsana and Durga Prasad Barik have filed separate petitions in the high court challenging the higher education department notifications.
India Whispers overheard a senior officer of the Odhisha higher education department saying that the court judgement would set principles for the recruitment of teachers in universities. According to him, the union ministry of human resources development ordinance, which overrules the UGC guidelines, things have now become clear.
Odisha universities are suffering from academic point of view due to large scale vacancies in teaching posts.
