Nishikant Khajuria
JAMMU, July 28: Uncertainty looms large over the fate of final selection list of candidates for the posts of Principal Government Degree Colleges in Jammu and Kashmir as the matter is entangled with legal hurdles owing to some petitions filed in the court of law and the permission granted only for conducting the interviews.
Even after more than two months since conduct of the interviews and finalization of the selection list by the Public Service Commission (PSC), the Government is restrained to declare the same as the court has yet to take decision on the writ petitions filed by several Incharge Principals and the aspirants, official sources informed the Excelsior.
Since the petition by Incharge Principals, seeking their regularization on the basis of DPC (Departmental Promotion Committee) instead of selection by PSC, was already pending before the High Court and the Government had sought special permission only for conducting of the interviews, the final selection list is likely to remain stuck till the petitions are disposed off, sources explained.
For the 61 posts of Principal Government Degree Colleges across Jammu and Kashmir, more than 150 eligible candidates, working as Associate Professors in the Higher Education Department, had appeared in the interviews, conducted by JKPSC in the month of April and May, this year. The Department of Higher Education had shortlisted around 200 candidates from Kashmir and Jammu divisions, who were eligible for the interviews.
After the successful conduct of the interviews, PSC prepared the final selection list and submitted the same to Higher Education Department last month for release of the same.
However, keeping in view of the litigations filed in the court of law and special permission granted only for conducting the interviews, the Higher Education Department remained in dilemma over the issuance of final selection list till the Law Department was approached for its opinion.
According to the sources, the Law Department, in its observation, has made it clear to the Government that final selection can not be made till clearance of the court, which had put a stay on the selection process for the posts of Principals and then granted permission to the Higher Education Department only for conducting interviews.
When contacted, the Minister for Education, Naeem Akhter also confirmed that the PSC has completed the exercise for selection of candidates and also submitted the final list to Higher Education Department but owing to legal hurdles because of pending petitions in the court of law, the Government has no option other than to wait. “Till the petitions are disposed off by the court and its further direction, we can not release the final selection list even as the Government attorney is pursing the case,” he said.
As there seems no immediate way out of the prevailing circumstances, the majority of Government Degree Colleges in the State are all set to stay deprived of full fledged Principals till the legal hurdles are removed for release of the final selection list.
Follow our WhatsApp channel