A Robotic 3 Day Race: Banaras Hindu University

The Centre has directed all departments to fill vacancies in “mission mode” on October 22, when the Prime Minister will address an event to highlight his government’s job-creation achievements.

Banaras Hindu University and the government must complete in three days what has not been completed in 567 days in order to save Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s face.

At a time when the government is under fire for high unemployment, the central university in Modi’s home constituency of Varanasi has been unable to issue recruitment letters to 150 teachers whose appointment process ended more than a year and a half ago. The same impasse has hampered the advancement of 250 faculty members.

The Union education ministry has been delaying the process of appointing BHU’s new Executive Council, the university’s highest decision-making body, whose approval is required to issue the appointment letters, which were kept in sealed envelopes by then-vice-chancellor Rakesh Bhatnagar when he left office on March 31, 2021. Eight of the nine EC seats have been vacant since their three-year terms expired in June of last year.

Instructed by the department of personnel and training, the education ministry on Tuesday asked all higher education institutions under its administrative control to issue appointment letters to selected candidates and complete their joining formalities on October 22, the day Modi is scheduled to address the event to highlight recruitments made by the government.

However, several institutions indicated to the education ministry on Wednesday that their process of appointment was on and the formalities might not be completed before October 22.

The education ministry letter on Tuesday had the subject “Filling of vacancies in mission mode” and was issued to the directors of all IITs, IIMs and NITs, the heads of other centrally funded technical institutions and the VCs of all central universities.

“I am directed to forward herewith a copy of email dated 17.10.2022 received from Department of Personnel and Training (copy enclosed) on the above subject and to request that appointment letters be issued and joining formalities of new appointees be pursued on 22.10.2022, after Hon’ble Prime Minister’s live telecast,” said the letter.

According to the attached letter from the (DoPT) Department of Personnel & Training, “all Ministries/Departments are mandated to work on Mission Mode for filling vacancies.” In the first tranche of this Mission, approximately 75000 vacancies are to be filled.

In this regard, the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s program is scheduled for October 22nd, 2022, at 11 a.m….”Other than the current VC, Sudhir K. Jain, all other EC posts are lying vacant.

“No meeting of the EC has been held for over a year. The approvals for appointments are pending. Had the government appointed the EC members, it could have recruited at least 150 teachers. The delay in approval and issuance of appointment letters is affecting teaching-learning activities too,” a BHU teacher said.

The education ministry had in August 2021 written to all institutions under it to complete appointments from September 5, 2021, to September 4, 2022. These institutions had nearly 14,000 vacant teaching posts. Ministry sources said less than 1,00 posts had been filled since. According to the sources, those issued appointment letters in the past few weeks could be asked to join on October 22.