The principal of DU’s Swami Shraddhanand College has been summoned by the Delhi OBC commission for allegedly failing to hire instructors in accordance with the National Commission for Backward Classes’ guidelines. Praveen Garg, the college’s principal, has been requested to appear before the panel on Monday with a report on the actions taken. According to lecturer and complainant Suraj Mandal, the NCBC ordered the college to revoke all 27 of its ad hoc appointments for assistant professors in 2021 since the roster was not followed.
Calls and texts from PTI seeking comment from Garg went unanswered. He was called in when Mandal complained in writing to the commission that the college had disobeyed the 2021 NCBC decision. A fact-finding committee set up by the college’s governing body found that despite the NCBC’s ruling, no appointments had been cancelled to date. Jagdish Yadav, the state’s OBC Commission’s chairman, wrote to Garg on Thursday and urged that he personally come before the commission on September 26, 2022, at 3:00 PM, along with an Action Taken Report (ATR) regarding the matter (compliance with the NCBC ruling).
In the interest of justice for the OBC group, the commission has instructed the principal to refrain from taking “any further action” on any appointment that does not adhere to the roster. The fact-finding committee charged Garg of selectively failing to fill reserved positions, particularly those designated for OBC, and left the seats vacant in its report, which it turned in in August. Additionally, he has been charged with labelling and treating the applicants as “Not Found Suitable” without a valid Selection Committee evaluation. Thus, the committee concludes that there is a compelling argument to revoke the lawful appointments and to pursue the recovery of any salaries paid in connection with such illegitimate appointments. The case of lying under oath before the Commission according to an affidavit “must take the course of law,” the report states.
