The State government has favoured the withdrawal of the controversial recruitment notification issued by Keladi Shivappa Nayaka University of Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences (KSNUAHS) in Shivamogga in 2019.
The government filed an affidavit, making it clear that the roster of reservations should be fixed, considering each department as a unit, with the Karnataka High Court on October 6. This move has left 109 assistant professors recruited by the university in worry, while the applicants who have been opposing the notification have welcomed the government’s decision.
Roster of reservations
The Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe students of the agricultural and horticultural universities in the State had been demanding the withdrawal of the notification, citing that the roster of reservations fixed for the recruitment was faulty and against the interests of SC-ST candidates.
Dr. Pavan A.S., one of the applicants, moved the Karnataka High Court with the writ petition seeking the withdrawal of the notification. The university had fixed the roster for the posts, considering the entire university as a unit. As the court sought the government’s opinion, the state government filed its affidavit stating that the notification is withdrawn and a fresh notification is issued with the subject-wise-roster.
The joint affidavit has been signed by John Prakash Rodrigues, Under Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, and Dr. Rakesh Kumar, Commissioner of the Social Welfare Department.
“It is submitted that after inter-departmental consultations, it has been decided that the impugned recruitment notification dated January 24, 2019, issued by the university has to be withdrawn and a fresh notification with the subject-wise-roster will be published calling for applications for filling up the post of Assistant Professors”.
In the affidavit, the government maintained that the university violated the notification of the Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms on January 28, 1987. The notification clearly stated that all universities should apply a roster to the posts of assistant professors by fixing subject-wise reservations. The next hearing on the petition is scheduled for October 12.
In the past
Interestingly, the university that came into existence in 2012, issued a notification in 2015 to fill up 85 posts of assistant professors. Then the reservation roster was fixed, considering each department (subject) as a unit. Under this system, out of 85 total seats, 41 seats were reserved for SC-ST candidates.
However, the university withdrew the notification and issued a fresh notification in 2019 to fill up 109 vacancies, in which the roster was fixed, treating the entire university as one unit. In the revised notification, only 18 posts (out of 109) were reserved for SC-ST candidates. The Federation of Karnataka Agriculture and Horticulture Universities’ Dalit Students has been opposing this.
