Govt reconstitutes search committee

Srinagar, Dec 13: The government Friday reconstituted a search committee for recommending the panel of candidates for the appointment as Chairman of the J&K Board of School Education (BOSE) and the Director of Jammu and Kashmir State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT).

As per the order issued by the General Administration Department (GAD), the search committee has been constituted in supersession of Govt Order No 252 of 2023.

“Search committee has been reconstituted for recommending panels for the appointment of Chairperson BOSE and Director SCERT,” the GAD order reads.

As per the government order, the committee would be headed by the Administrative Secretary Agricultural Production Department as its chairman while the Administrative Secretary of the School Education Department (SED), GAD, and Higher Education Department (HED) would be the members of the committee.

The other two members of the search committee are Vice Chancellor University of Kashmir (KU) and Vice Chancellor University of Jammu (JU).

“The committee will be served by the School Education Department,” the order reads.

The search committee was constituted days after Chief Minister Omar Abdullah directed for a complete ban on “re-employment, extensions, additional charges, and attachments” in the departments.

He issued these directions while chairing a high-level meeting at the civil secretariat to review the functioning of the General Administration Department (GAD).

Greater Kashmir earlier reported about the issue and highlighted that the two-year term of incumbent Chairman BOSE was nearing an end and a clamour was growing for the constitution of the search committee for a new chairman in advance to avoid the complications associated with temporary appointments or unwanted practice of offering extension to the incumbent.

The incumbent chairman Prof Parikshat Singh Manhas was appointed as the Chairman of BOSE on January 25, 2023, on a deputation basis for a period of two years.

As per the order, his appointment came into effect “from the date of the issuance of the notification of his appointment.”

As per the set norms, the incumbent chairman would demit his office on January 25, 2025. The academicians have hailed the government’s move to initiate the selection process in advance.

“The term of the incumbent chairman expires during winter vacation (in January) and the time will be crucial as it will be a transition phase from one academic session to the next session. The winter vacation period is crucial for BOSE as it has to do a lot of exercise in terms of publication of textbooks and ensure their availability in schools on time,” a senior lecturer said.

Besides the post of Chairman BOSE, the government has initiated a process for the appointment of Director SCERT.

Earlier, the SED advertised the post of Director SCERT following which the eligible candidates submitted their forms as well.

However, the government assigned the charge of Director SCERT to the incumbent Chairman BOSE as his additional assignment.