OPSC suspends teacher recruitment after UGC rap

A day after the University Grants Commission pulled up Odisha government citing violation of the Supreme Court's stay order on the Odisha Universities (Amendment) Act (2020), the State Public Service Commission (OPSC) announced putting the recruitment of teacher/faculty in abeyance until further orders.

The OPSC on Friday called off the programme of interview for the post of Assistant Professor Physics which was scheduled to commence from 04.06.2022 as notified earlier. Similarly, the Commission has also cancelled the document verification for the post of Assistant Professor Commerce. The programme was slated to begin from 06.06.2022.

This apart, the OPSC is also said to have put on hold the results of the English Assistant Professor exam.

As per UGC rules, the academic staff in universities are recruited by selection panel of the varsity concerned, however under the amended guidelines, OPSC has earned such recruitment power.

In light of the matter, the UGC filed a special leave petition citing violation of its regulations, 2018 in the Supreme Court, especially in the selection of faculty members and vice-chancellors.

The apex court on May 20 stayed the operation of impugned judgment for a period of three months. However, the OPSC and State Higher Education Department violated the SC rule and undertook recruitment to the post of teacher.