Quashing of recruitments: Govt exploring all legal options, says Bains

The state government is exploring all legal options in connection with the recent quashing of the appointment of 1,091 assistant professors and 67 librarians by the Supreme Court.

Terming the 2021 selection of the assistant professors and librarians as arbitrary and in violation of the University Grants Commission (UGC) norms, the apex court had on Monday quashed the 1,158 appointments made during the tenure of Charanjit Singh Channi-led Congress government.

Higher Education Minister Harjot Bains said the government was examining various legal options as the future of the assistant professors and librarians was a matter of concern. The selected candidates had joined duties recently. The recruitment was made ahead of the Punjab Assembly elections in 2022.

The judgment has put the government in a difficult situation as the 64 colleges in the state were already facing teaching staff shortage of over 50 per cent. The 64 government colleges currently have nearly 780 guest faculty members and around 1,000 regular teachers.

Officials in the High Education Department said they were waiting for the apex court order and the specified time to appeal against the court orders. Various issues like salaries of the affected staff were being examined by the department, they added.