Hooda slams BJP over recruitment of assistant professors, alleges bias for Haryana candidates

Chandigarh, Dec 7 (PTI) Former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Sunday alleged that only a small fraction of Haryana residents are among the "selected candidates" who qualified a recent recruitment exam for assistant professor posts.

On 151 aspirants cleared the subject knowledge test for more than 600 vacancies of assistant professor (college cadre) posts in the English departments in Haryana's colleges.

Congress leaders and activists have questioned how candidates who have cleared the University Grants Commission - National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET), Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) and other competitive exams failed to secure even the minimum 35 per cent required to qualify for the subject knowledge test.

Hooda alleged that "the BJP’s anti-Haryana face has been exposed once again in the Haryana Public Service Commission (HPSC) recruitment as less than 8 per cent of the state’s youth were selected in the exam".

"The recruitment for English Assistant Professors (College Cadre) has completely unmasked this government's anti-Haryana stance. The government, which consistently prioritizes candidates from other states in recruitment, this time didn't even select 8 per cent of candidates from the state," Hooda, who is Leader of the Opposition in Haryana, said in a statement here.

He questions whether the state government could not find any “qualified candidates” within the entire state of Haryana for the posts. “This question has been continuously raised by the Congress earlier too, from the streets to the Legislative Assembly, but the BJP has not been able to answer it till date.” “Surprisingly, only 8 per cent of the Haryana residents are among the selected candidates, which has hurt every young person who is questioning: don't young women and men from Haryana have a right to jobs in their own state," he said.

Nearly 4,500 appeared for the recruitment process which began with a screening test – an objective exam with MCQs for 100 marks – held on June 8. Among these, nearly 2,000 were shortlisted for the subject knowledge test -- a descriptive exam for 150 marks.

Only 151, who were able to score a minimum of 35 per cent marks have now made it to the interview round.

Hooda alleged that "by conducting such recruitments, the BJP is also eliminating reservations in jobs as there were 60 seats for BC-A (reserved) category candidates, but only 6 were selected. Similarly, 36 seats were reserved for BC-B, but only 3 were selected. There were also 60 seats for EWS, but only 6 people were selected".

Activist Shweta Dhull, who is known to take up issues of government job aspirants across the state, recently said it was "hard to believe" that the vast majority of highly qualified candidates are not even able to secure the qualifying 35 per cent in the exam.

A PhD student, who could not clear the subject knowledge test, had said many aspirants, including university toppers, have failed to secure the minimum score in the test, leaving everyone shocked. PTI SUN OZ OZ