NEW DELHI: Disregarding protests by deputy secretaries and under secretaries against what they call an arbitrary change in recruitment rules for
appointment of joint secretaries
,
University Grants Commission handed out appointment letters to four new joinees on Wednesday.
Meanwhile,
Delhi high court told petitioners on Wednesday that since the matter is to be heard by the Central Administrative Tribunal on Thursday, they should wait for its verdict.The court acknowledged that the matter is urgent.
On Tuesday,
UGC interviewed 46 candidates in less than six hours for direct recruitment as joint secretaries. On Wednesday, the full commission met and gave appointment letters to Sunita Siwach, JK Tripathi, Vikas Gupta and Avichal Kapur.Aggrieved UGC officers have also petitioned the Prime Minister's Office for immediate intervention.
National Commission for Scheduled Castes
has posted the matter for January 11 next year and asked secretary of UGC and HRD ministry to be present.
The change in recruitment rules for joint secretaries, which has affected all deputy secretaries in the UGC, was made in August.Instead of appointing all joint secretaries through promotion, the new rule says 25% of them will be through direct recruitment.
Also, for direct promotion for UGC deputy secretaries, upper age limit of 50 years was fixed. UGC deputy secretaries immediately pointed out that the new recruitment rules could create a chasm between direct recruits at the level of deputy secretary joint secretary and promotees.