Amid outcry, KU postpones interviews of candidates for Assistant Professor posts

Srinagar, Nov 10: Amid hue and cry, authorities at the University of Kashmir (KU) on Sunday announced postponement of the interviews for the post of Assistant Professors citing "administrative issues."

As per the KU notification issued and signed by the Deputy Registrar on November 10, the varsity has stated that the interviews scheduled from November 11 to 14 of 2024 have been postponed "till further orders".

"Due to administrative issues, it is hereby informed to all the concerned candidates that the interview which were scheduled from November 11 to November 14 of 204 for the post Assistant Professor, advertised vide notice No 13 of 2023 have been postponed," the KU notification reads.

"We regret the inconvenience for the same," it reads.

Notably, the KU had come under criticism for lining up the interviews for the posts of assistant professors at the fag end of Vice-Chancellor’s (VC) tenure. The aspirants had questioned the move and sought the intervention of Chancellor of the University Lieutenant Governor (LG) Manoj Sinha to postpone the interviews.

The KU earlier notified the interviews for posts of assistant professors in departments of Commerce, MERC, Foreign Languages, Home Science, English, Islamic Studies and Chemistry have been scheduled from November 11 to November 14 of 2024. None of the Vice Chancellors of State or Central Universities across India University is allowed to hold interviews at fag end of tenure. According to officials it is considered unethical to hold interviews when VCs' are in the last six months of their tenure.

Talking to Greater Kashmir, VC KU Prof. Nilofer Khan earlier said that the varsity was not rushing for interviews saying that it was a huge process. "I had to start from scratch for the interviews. Some candidates must have not been shortlisted in the screening. Maybe they don’t want to have interviews with others," VC KU told Greater Kashmir a day before the interviews were postponed.

Meanwhile, a top official told Greater Kashmir that the "administrative issue" cited by the KU to postpone the interviews was the tenure of the VC which is expiring in coming months

"The KU was forced to postpone the interviews by higher-ups after it surfaced that the same were being held at the fag end of VC's tenure," a top official said.

Meanwhile some aspirants working outside J&K said the postponement notification citing "administrative issues" was sheer mismanagement. "I had booked tickets to Srinagar from where I work at the moment. It took me almost half a month's salary to pay for tickets but it has all done down the drain: my hard-earned money and may be my dreams. I know many of such aspirants who experienced the same situation," said one of the aspirants.

The aspirants said the varsity should have done away with scheduling interviews if there were administrative issues related to it. "Announcing postponement at the 11th hour is not justifiable at all. It speaks volumes about the functioning of the University," the aspirant said.