Bihar edu dept seeks clarity on minister’s selection as asst prof

THe breeding section of the Bihar authorities has sought-after(a) clarifications from the Bihar say University Service Commission (BSUSC) on its recommendation to appoint rural works minister Ashok Chaudhary as an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Pataliputra University.Chaudhary was recommended under a Scheduled Caste (SC) category.The move comes after the university last week released the list of 18 recommended candidates for appointment in Political Science in the constituent colleges under it. Chaudhary’s name, even though recommended, was conspicuously missing from the list. His status was described as “kept waiting”.Talking to media persons on Monday, education minister Sunil Kumar said that the department had sent back the case to the BSUSC for its “opinion and review” on certain issues after an enquiry was made in the case. He, however, did not elaborate what are those issues that needed review, but a communique by the education department said Chaudhary’s PhD degree is yet to be scrutinised. “We have seen it minutely and felt the need to revert the case to the BSUSC. The department does not make appointments. It is done by the commission. They will send their opinion,” he added.As per the communique from the department of higher education, 274 candidates had been recommended against 280 vacancies in Political Science, with six positions remaining vacant.“While three candidates were not available, two candidates in the unreserved category have been kept waiting as the scrutiny of their experience certificate is under process, while in Chaudhary’s case in the Scheduled Caste category, his PhD degree awarded by Magadh University is yet to be scrutinised as per the University Grants Commission (UGC) regulations of 2009,” it said.A senior department of higher education official said the minister’s name was not recommended by the department. The newly created department’s first secretary Rajiv Raushan, who took charge on December 15, said he was not aware of the matter as he had just joined and was not in a position to speak.The development came as a surprise as the empowered expert committee of BSUSC scrutinised the documents and awarded marks to the candidates, which formed the basis for their interview call. After that BSUSC recommended the candidates for appointment. As per the paid down procedure, the appointing authority -- the respective university -- verifies the documents/ folder before offering appointment letters after taking an oath from the candidates.The issue has also taken political overtones, with Opposition Congress spokesman Asit Nath Tiwari raising questions. “The commission has recommended his name on the basis of a PhD degree, which the department finds suspicious, which is bound to raise eyebrows on the appointment process,” he added.The appointment of the minister had also generated a lot of heat in the run-up to the election, with the Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) founder Prashant Kishor raising a question mark over it as well as the process. Chaudhary was a minister in the previous Nitish cabinet also.The HT tried to speak to Chaudhary, but he didn’t respond to calls or messages.