Specialisation rider for Assistant Professor recruitment triggers row at Cluster University Srinagar

Srinagar, Feb 7: The specialisation rider in the Assistant Professor recruitment at the Cluster University Srinagar has triggered a row as the students with MBA degrees from the Kashmir University (KU) are not entertained for the recruitment.

A group of aggrieved candidates told Greater Kashmir that the CU Srinagar was rejecting MBA degrees from the University of Kashmir, without any official clarification or written justification.

"We had applied for the Assistant Professor position Management Studies as per the advertisement No. 01-CUS of 2024. The required qualification is an MBA in Finance," the students said.

The students said they have obtained their MBA degree from the University of Kashmir while some of the aspirants hold PhD degrees in Finance as well.

"Despite being fully eligible, our applications have been completely ignored without any notification. What makes this even worse is that after issuing the job advertisement, Cluster University has not published any official updates or any list of shortlisted candidates on their website," the aspirants said.

The students alleged that some of the candidates with lower merit have received direct interview call letters.

"But we didn’t even get a response. We tried reaching out to them through emails, but Cluster University never responded," the aggrieved aspirants said.

They said a group of candidates personally visited the university and instead of addressing their concerns, the officials refused to provide any answers or allow them to meet any senior official.

"After repeated attempts, some candidates were able to meet the senior official who did not give any justifying answer," the students said.

The students said the Cluster University has scheduled the interview on February 11, 2025 but the students who have done MBA from KU have been excluded "without any valid reason."

The students said the move raises serious concerns about transparency and fairness in the recruitment process of the CU Srinagar.

"It speaks volumes about the credibility and validity of our degrees and the future of scores of students like us. If this continues, tomorrow, they could reject anyone’s degree without accountability," the students said.

The students urged the J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha who is also the Chancellor J&K Universities for his personal intervention into the matter.

A senior official at CU Srinagar, when contacted, said the MBA degrees provided by the KU do not have any mention about the specialisation.

"In our recruitment we have clearly mentioned about the specialisation. But the degree certificates awarded by the KU do not have any mention about the specialisation," a senior official of CU Srinagar told Greater Kashmir.

"Our requirement was an MBA in HR and Finance which was clearly mentioned in the recruitment notification. But the KU does not mention any specialisation."

He said the decision was taken by the screening committee including experts from Central University of Kashmir (CUK) and KU as well.

"We are going ahead as per the advertisement approved by the screening committee," he said.

Dean Academic Affairs KU, Dr. Shariefuddin Pirzada said the students should make a representation while the authorities in CU Srinagar should also look into the issue by taking an expert opinion.

"They can also approach the KU to seek clarification regarding equivalence of the degree," he told Greater Kashmir.