HT Bureau
GUWAHATI, April 5: Opposing the state government’s proposed move to centralise the recruitment process of colleges, curtail their autonomy and decrease transparency during new appointments, the entire opposition walked out of the state Assembly on Wednesday refusing to take part in the discussion on ‘The Assam College Employees (Provincialisation) (Amendment) Bill, 2023’.
The opposition members also claimed that the government was trying to frame rules for appointing college faculty members which were not in line with the nationally practised norms.
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The issues were raised during a discussion on ‘The Assam College Employees (Provincialisation) (Amendment) Bill, 2023’, moved by education minister Ranoj Pegu. The House passed the Bill later in absence of opposition members.
During the discussion, Pegu said that the amended law will ensure better monitoring of the recruitment process and also help candidates in getting placement by applying through a single channel.
The Bill proposes to appoint teaching and non-teaching staff in colleges through the proposed Assam College Services Recruitment Board (ACSRB), doing away with the current provision of the recruitments being made on the basis of selection and recommendation of the governing body of the respective institutes.
The state director of higher education will remain the appointing authority.
The ACSRB will be constituted by the government for a two-year term, consisting of a chairman and six members.
Independent MLA Akhil Gogoi maintained that the earlier recruitment process was a decentralised one but the new Bill will give the power to the state government.
CPI(M)’s Manoranjan Talukdar also claimed that the Bill contradicts the national policy on decentralisation of higher education.
“This Bill will curtail autonomy of colleges, decrease transparency in recruitment and make the entire process lengthy,” he said.
AIUDF legislator Rafiqul Islam claimed that the process for recruitment of teaching staff was not clear in the Bill, leading to apprehensions that candidates may have to appear for written exams under the ACSRB in contrast with the current system of assessment of their performance at various levels, including NET.
Leader of opposition Debabrata Saikia of the Congress asked for clarity on the issues raised by the opposition members, particularly on whether college teaching staff will be recruited in a manner different from the one in practice across the country.
The minister claimed that the ACSRB will ensure that the recruitment for all college vacancies is done together, which will reduce the hassle for candidates to appear for interviews for individual colleges, thus saving time and money.
It will also ensure that there is no ‘overlapping’ of selected candidates as it happens currently when the same person gets selected in more than one college, and the institutes not chosen by the person have to carry out the recruitment process once again, he added.
Pegu rejected the opposition’s suggestion for a system of waitlisting of candidates to enable the persons ranked lower to get the job in case those above them fail to join.
He also maintained that monitoring the process will be easier through the ACSRB as the recruitment will be done through only one source.
On the selection process, Pegu said for the teaching staff, minimum requirements will be as per UGC norms.
“We are trying to make a universal grading system in Assam. An equalising exam may be needed as candidates from different universities have different grading processes. We will discuss and decide later,” he added.
As the minister rejected the opposition’s various amendments to address their concerns, Congress MLA Bharat Narah asserted that the Bill is in contradiction to the policy for decentralisation of higher education.
It also curtails the autonomy of the functioning of the colleges, he claimed, adding that as a mark of protest, his party was walking out of the House.
The rest of the opposition comprising AIUDF, CPI(M) and the lone Independent MLA also followed the Congress members.
The Bill was passed by a voice vote by the treasury benches.
The opposition parties later joined the proceedings as the House passed ‘The Assam Science and Technology University (Amendment) Bill, 2023’ for efficient functioning of the varsity and optimum use of its resources.
The Assam Engineering College, Guwahati, will be declared as the constituent college of the University, as per the amendment.
Earlier, ‘The Assam Elementary and Secondary School Teachers’ (Regulation of Transfer and Posting) (Amendment) Bill, 2023’ to streamline transfer and posting of teachers keeping in mind the academic interest of the student community and proper utilisation of manpower. (With inputs from PTI)
