MU in soup over recruitment in NSS Dept
Source: Chronicle News Service

Imphal, June 10 2022: Manipur University is facing a fresh controversy over the recruitment of one associate professor and one professor for the Department of National Security Studies, with the Department trying to recruit the candidates from different disciplines.

To ensure that the students are taught a subject well, the person responsible for teaching the subject should not only be highly knowledgeable in that particular subject but also possess the necessary degree and certificates for the same.

Institutions then appoint the best from among many eligible candidates who fulfil all the requisite criteria to teach the students.

However, many candidates from other disciplines aside from security studies have applied for the ongoing recruitment of a professor and an associate professor for the Department of National Security Studies.

In this regard, students of the Department submitted a memorandum to the Vice Chancellor of the university on Thursday, requesting for invalidation of the recruitment of any professor or associate professor, whose masters/PhD disciplines are not in Defence & Strategic Studies/National Security Studies.

The memorandum conveyed that as the recruitment process commenced, the applicants for the two posts were screened on June 6.Among the applicants, many had background in social work, international relation's and other subjects, which occupy only 10 per cent of the syllabus of National Security Studies.

Thus, the memorandum urged for the recruitment process to be halted immediately.

Posing whether the applicants not eligible for the posts, have applied with the support of those in the government, the memorandum stated that students are left questioning about their future amidst such acts, despite CM Biren's repeated declarations to end corruption and improve the education system in the state.

The students of the department want the teachers who would be teaching them to be truly qualified in the subject.

If candidates with background in other social science disciplines (geography, economics, sociology, political sciences) were to be recruited to the department, it would seriously compromise the academic and career options of the students.

Meanwhile, the head of Department of National Security Studies is a teacher from the Department of Political Science.

He is also the chairman of the screening committee.

As such, it seems the head is unable to fulfil the wishes of the students of the department.

Thus, the students urged for appointing the head from the existing faculty of the department.

The students then cautioned of challenging the recruitment process in the High Court of Manipur if ineligible candidates were appointed for the two posts against their wishes and specified rules for the same.

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