Edu dept sends back BSUSC ‘recommendation’ for minister’s appointment as Asst Professor

Rural works minister Ashok Chaudhary was recommended by BSUSC to join Pataliputra University as Asst Prof of Political Science, but now the Bihar education department has sent back recommendation for his appointment for ‘review’, triggering speculation that there are fears of legal trouble for the minister

In an unprecedented case, a minister‘s recommended appointment for an academic post is being reverted by a government. Following revelations about Bihar’s rural works minister Ashok Chaudhary’s prospective appointment as Assistant Professor of Political Science at Pataliputra University, the education department of Bihar government has sent back the recommendations of the Bihar State University Service Commission (BSUSC) for his selection for “certain clarifications”.

Bihar minister Ashok Choudhary is in the eye of a controversy because of his name being recommended for appointment as assistant professor in a state university. (HT File)

Chaudhary was recommended under a Scheduled Caste (SC) category.

The move comes after the university last week released the list of 18 recommended candidates in Political Science subject for joining in different constituent colleges under it. Chaudhary’s name, even though recommended, was conspicuously missing from the list. He 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 made in the case. He, however, did not elaborate what are those issues that needed review. “We have seen it minutely and felt the need to revert the case to the BSUSC. The department does not make appointment. 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 the Political Science subject, 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 Choudhary’s case in 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 interview call. After that BSUSC recommended the candidates for appointment. As per the paid down procedure, the appointing authority -- the respective universities -- verifies the documents/ folder before offering appointment letter after taking oath from candidates.

The issue has also taken political overtones, with Opposition Congress spokesman Asit Nath Tiwari raising question over the state of affairs. “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 Suraj Party (JSP) founder Prashant Kishor raising a question mark over it as well as the process. Choudhary was a minister in the previous Nitish cabinet also.