Bihar govt puts on hold recruitment of Asst Professors

Patna, Aug 13: Against the backdrop of demand by RJD and other political parties for reservation in jobs for Bihar natives, the state government has asked the state Public Service Commission to put on hold the ongoing recruitment process for Assistant Professors.

"The state government has asked the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) to put on hold the interview being carried out for appointment of Assistant Professors for various subjects in the state's universities," Bihar's Education Minister Ashok Choudhary told PTI today.

BPSC is holding interviews for 3345 posts in various subjects of the universities. When contacted BPSC Secretary Prabhat Kumar Sinha said that the Commission would abide by the state government's directives.

"We have not received the letter to this effect so far, but Commission will go by the directives of the state government," Sinha said.

The domiciliary issue was kicked up by RJD chief Lalu Prasad who had demanded 80 per cent reservation for locals in jobs as well as in admission to educational institutions under the state control.

Prasad had claimed outsiders were cornering majority of Assistant Professors' posts in subjects like English. BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi had supported Prasad's demand and demanded Nitish Kumar government to stop the ongoing interview of BPSC for Assistant Professors in English and other subjects and conduct the interview only after incorporating the latest guidelines of UGC (which approved pre-2009 Phd).

In April this year, UGC had exempted candidates registered for M.Phil/PhD programme before July 11, 2009, from clearing the National Eligibility Test (NET) or the State-Level Eligibility Test (SLET) in order to become eligible for appointment as assistant professors in colleges and universities.

PTI