Favouritism, nepotism rampant in appointments, reveals finding
By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Dec 14: A Right to Information (RTI) finding has revealed rampant favouritism and nepotism in the appointment of teachers for the sanctioned posts under the People’s College grant-in-aid scheme of the Education Department.
Advocate Napoleon S Mawphniang had filed an RTI seeking information from different colleges across the state through the public information officer at the Directorate of Higher and Technical Education (DHTE).
“According to the replies I have received to my RTI applications, it has become evident that several eligible and qualified teachers are being denied sanctioned positions while undeserving candidates are being recommended or considered for absorption or appointment to these posts through manipulation and recommendations,” he told The Shillong Times here on Thursday.
He said he was shocked to learn that factors such as having the right political connections or being in the good books of the governing body carry more weight than academic qualifications and teaching competencies.
The advocate claimed some colleges seem to blatantly modify the resumes of candidates to fit them into sanctioned posts.
A glaring case in point is that of the Mawsynram Border Area College where a male employee revealed how the governing body members expect subservience in return for appointments.
“PhDs and NET qualifications mean little if one does not have the right contacts. The future of our students is being compromised by such unethical practices,” Mawphniang said.
He urged the state government, the Education Department, and the college authorities to immediately clamp down on such malpractices.
“Otherwise, our students will end up losing faith and trust in the very system responsible for shaping their futures. The need of the hour is complete transparency, fairness, and merit-based appointments. I hope the policymakers and the judiciary will intervene to remedy this paradox plaguing the people’s colleges across Meghalaya,” he added.
Replying to a query, he said that most of the RTI replies he received shows that some governing bodies of different colleges use covert and discriminatory recruitment practices.
The advocate said that the governing bodies neither disclose the number of sanctioned posts nor the interview details to all the applicants. Instead, they covertly notify only a few of their favoured candidates.
“They adhere to the UGC norms and guidelines only for the post of principal, but ignore them for the other teaching posts. There are numerous such disheartening cases,” Mawphniaw claimed.
According to him, the RTI documents with regard to the Mawsynram Border Area College reveal that the governing body rejected the only candidate with NET and PhD qualification and favoured another unqualified candidate.