Two candidates for assistant professors in Bihar varsities booked for forging certificates

The detection of forged documents during the scrutiny of applications submitted by candidates for appointment of assistant professors in the state’s universities has stumped the Bihar State University Service Commission (BSUSC), which has lodged FIRs against two applicants and increased vigil to prevent any undeserving candidates getting even closer to the interview stage, officials said.

The detection of forged documents during the scrutiny of applications submitted by candidates for appointment of assistant professors in the state’s universities has stumped the Bihar State University Service Commission (BSUSC), which has lodged FIRs against two applicants and increased vigil to prevent any undeserving candidates getting even closer to the interview stage, officials said.

The Patna University. (HT Photo)

The final verification of documents is done at the interview stage.

Both the candidates in the dock are women and from Supaul district. Both submitted forged MA certificates for Bhojpuri and Angika subjects from UP’s Choudhary Charan Singh University (Meerut). The forgery was established after the registrar of the university responded to the commission’s query and said such courses were not run there.

“The candidates were again sent letters if they had anything to say on the forgery established by the institutions they claimed to have studied, but even after months, there was no response from their side. Later, after consultation with the government, commission’s deputy secretary Ashok Kumar lodged FIRs against both the candidates with Patna’s Kotwali police station for action as per law. It is sad that such unscrupulous elements unnecessarily delay the process. We have put in place a transparent process with adequate checks to separate the wheat from the chaff,” said BSUSC chairman Rajvardhan Azad.

BSUSC had advertised for 4,638 vacancies for the post of assistant professors in 52 subjects on September 23, 2020, just ahead of the announcement of state assembly elections, and it would complete the interview process for nearly half of them soon. BSUSC received 67,578 online applications, the maximum number from Bihar, followed by neighbouring Uttar Pradesh. Applications also came from almost every state in the country.

The chairman said the commission was trying to do things fast, but a lot of effort was required in screening the applications. “After screening, candidates are invited three times the number of vacancies for interviews. Computer generated scores are given to applicants on academic records and publications/awards/work experience out of 100 on clearly laid down parameters to reduce chances of human discretion, while interview carries just 15 marks. We are sending recommendations of the candidates the same day the interview is completed or within two days of completion,” he said.

The alarm in the BSUSC following detection of forged documents in understandable, as it is not the first time it has happened in the state. Last year, the education department had also found 562 candidates having submitted forged CTET/BETET certificates during recruitment for school teachers despite warnings to avoid past experience.

The issue of recruitment of school teachers between 2006 and 2015 through panchayati raj institutions and urban local bodies had landed in the Patna High Court following allegations of use of forged documents by a large number of candidates and the probe has been on for nearly seven years now. A few thousand teachers had also resigned under the HC’s amnesty scheme. The HC, which ordered the vigilance probe into appointment of teachers in 2015, had in the past expressed displeasure over the slow probe as over 90,000 folders of teachers were found missing at one point of time. The department later asked the teachers to upload scanned copies of their certificates on the specified portal, but that process has also been slow.