Reports of Malpractices: Recruitment at RU halted

The government has asked Rajshahi University VC Prof M Abdus Sobhan to explain in seven working days why the appointments of his daughter and son-in-law to the university as teachers will not be cancelled.

The education ministry in a separate order has asked the vice-chancellor to take necessary steps to remove Prof Abdul Bari from the post of university registrar for not properly assisting a University Grants Commission (UGC) committee in probing allegations of irregularities at the university.

The education ministry on Sunday sent 11 orders, signed by ministry Senior Assistant Secretary Nilima Afroj, to the RU VC and other officials concerned over different allegations. Copies of the orders were sent to the UGC and ministry officials concerned.

This paper has obtained copies of all the orders.

The allegations against the VC include nepotism and illegal occupation of a duplex of the university.

The UGC probe found that the vice-chancellor and other RU officials relaxed the recruitment rules to appoint the VC's daughter and son-in-law as teachers.

Meanwhile, the government in a separate order on December 10 postponed all kinds of appointments to RU until further notice.

The order, copy of which has been obtained by this paper, says all appointment processes will remain suspended until further notice due to "administrative reasons".

Top education ministry officials said they issued the order as "the government came to know about some negative news regarding the malpractices in the recruitment process".

The university's Institute of Biological Sciences cancelled the process for appointment of two teachers this month as 13 candidates did not receive admit cards for the viva voce exam.

The UGC in its probe report recommended taking actions against the VC, Pro-VC Prof Choudhury M Zakaria and others concerned over the matter. It also suggested scrapping the appointment of 34 teachers, who were recruited under the "relaxed university rules".

Contacted, Deputy Education Minister Mohibul Hassan Chowdhoury refused to comment on the issue.

The VC and the pro-VC did not respond to phone calls and text messages.

Registrar Prof Bari said he would not comment on the matter without seeing related documents.

A senior teacher of Institute of Biological Sciences said a total of 24 candidates had applied for two teaching positions. The viva voce exam was held on December 8.

Later, at least 13 jobseekers alleged that they did not receive admit cards. The institute's Board of Governance on December 10 decided to cancel the appointment process.

Speaking at a press conference on the campus on November 26, a group of teachers under the banner of "Teachers' Society Against Corruption" demanded postponement of all kinds of recruitment to the university until the government made a decision in line with the UGC's probe findings.

They alleged that a recent RU syndicate meeting relaxed recruitment conditions for appointing four lecturers to the tourism and hospitality management department and two lectures to applied physics department.

Prof Sultan ul Islam of geology and mining, also the convener of Teachers' Society Against Corruption, yesterday said the authorities continued the recruitment process like they did in the past without caring about the UGC investigation.

The UGC submitted copies of the probe report to the education ministry, Anti-Corruption Commission and the Prime Minister's Office on October 20.

RELAXING OF EDN QUALIFICATIONS

The education ministry on Sunday issued separate orders asking the pro-VC, the registrar, Prof Mujibur Rahman of physics, Prof Mohammad Abdul Hannan and Asst Prof Shibli Islam of law, Asst Prof Gazi Towhidur Rahman of material science and engineering and Deputy Registrar Shakhawat Hossain to explain in seven working days why legal actions would not be taken against them for relaxing education qualifications for recruitments to the university.

The orders said the UGC probe committee found their involvement in this regard and such recruitments tarnished the image of the university.

According to the UGC probe report, VC Prof Sobhan occupied a duplex of the university for 18 months showing various excuses. A government order issued on Sunday asked the VC to deposit Tk 5.61 lakh as rent into the public exchequer.

During the investigation, the UGC probe committee found evidence of 25 kinds of irregularities and corruption committed by top members of the university administration.

The probe found that the VC provided false information to the chancellor on voluntary retirement and practiced nepotism in recruiting teachers; the VC and the others appointed heads of different departments violating university rules, and officials were involved in irregular financial transactions.

The report said the VC and some others relaxed the university's recruitment policy on purpose and appointed the VC's daughter and son-in-law as teachers. Besides, some 34 under-qualified candidates were recruited as teachers.

"The teacher recruitment rules were relaxed with an ill intention…. Candidates having lower qualifications were recruited instead of qualified candidates," it said.