UGC fixes six months limit for completing recruitment

Hyderabad: The University Grants Commission (UGC) has fixed a maximum time limit of six months to complete the recruitment process of the faculty in the Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs).

The UGC directred the HEIs to follow the revised guidelines. The revised guidelines said the shortage of quality teaching faculty in HEIs is one amongst the many issues presently confronting the higher education in the country.

This, in turn, is also affecting the quality of higher education. It is against this backdrop that the revised guidelines have fixed a time limit for the entire process to fill vacant faculty posts appropriately with eligible and competent candidates.

Accordingly, all the HEIs must identify and assess the number of existing vacant teaching posts and those likely to fall vacant during next six months along with the reserved posts for various categories as per the reservation roster in various departments/schools of the HEIs and notifying on HEI's website and MHRD online portal.

Within fifteen days of such identification, the HEI or university will have to initiate the recruitment process.

The competent authority permitting to filling the vacancies will have to give its approval within 30 days from the date of sending the proposal by the HEI, failing which it would be considered as deemed to be approved.

Further, advertisement of vacant posts in the national dailies, employment news and HEI website with one month's notice period for receiving applications.

This will be further followed up within 15 days with the constitution of the selection committee as per the provisions made under the Acts and Statutes of the HEI.

The Selection Committee meetings fixing of dates of the selection committee and confirmation from members for attending the selection process. Scrutiny of applications and issue of interview letters to the shortlisted candidates and uploading on HEI website has to be done within 30 days Similarly, the interviews will have to be completed within 30 days and approval of the competent authority of the HEI and issue appointment letters and upload the same on the UGC portal.

While doing so the UGC has asked the HEIs to follow the selection process as per their Acts, Statutes or constituent documents and in accordance with the University Grants Commission (Minimum Qualifications for Appointment of Teachers and other Academic Staff in Universities and Colleges and other Measures for the Maintenance of Standards in Higher Education) Regulations, 2018.

The UGC also said that HEIs should ensure that all the vacant posts, along with the reservations details, are uploaded on the online portal https://nherc.in. It is through this portal that the monitoring of the filling up of the vacancies would be done by the MHRD and UGC through this portal. It also warned that violation of the guidelines would attract stringent action.