Editor,
I wish to draw the attention of the public and the authorities concerned to the deeply disappointing and questionable recruitment process conducted recently for the post of assistant professor at the Arunachal Pradesh University (APU), Pasighat.
It is truly disheartening that highly qualified candidates holding PhD degrees, many with commendable research records, publications, and teaching experience, have been overlooked. This raises a serious question: Is the APU truly committed to academic excellence, or has favouritism and political influence replaced merit and transparency?
According to the University Grants Commission (UGC) norms, the recruitment of assistant professors at universities must be strictly based on Academic Performance Indicators (API) – a comprehensive system that evaluates candidates based on research publications, book authorship, JRF qualification, research and teaching experience, and paper presentations at national and international seminars and conferences, and so on. Ignoring these well-established academic benchmarks not only violates the UGC guidelines but also undermines the credibility of our higher education system.
A university is meant to be a temple of learning that upholds academic integrity and research excellence, and where fairness, merit, and scholarship guide every decision. Moreover, the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 envisions universities as centres of innovation and research. Yet, the recent recruitment of an assistant professor at the APU suggests that favouritism and political influence have overridden merit, setting a disturbing precedent for the future of higher education in our state. When merit is overlooked, deserving candidates are pushed aside, and recruitment becomes a matter of connections rather than competence. We must ask: Where is the APU heading?
I urge the university administration to revisit its recruitment process and uphold transparency, accountability, and academic integrity. Arunachal deserves universities that inspire confidence, not controversy.
To my fellow research scholars – let us raise our collective voice against this growing injustice. To aspiring PhD candidates – think twice before enrolling if merit continues to be disregarded. If this trend continues, the pursuit of a PhD will lose its meaning and purpose altogether. It is high time that universities in our state led by example, not by exception.
An aggrieved candidate