Two years on, post of seeds director still lying vacant at PAU
21 Dec, 2013
An application was filed with the Punjab Agricultural University under the Right to Information (RTI) Act seeking to get information regarding the vacant post of Director (Seeds) in the university and the initiatives taken to fill the vacancy.
The reply to the application states that the post of Director (Seeds) went vacant on July 1, 2011. Thereafter a six-member selection committee was formed headed by the university's vice-chancellor.
The reply said that seven candidates had applied for the post and were interviewed by the committee, but none of them was found suitable for the post. However, the document received in the reply don't clarify as to on what grounds the candidates were rejected. The bio-data of the candidates show that experience couldn't possibly be a factor for rejection. One candidate has practical experience of 21 years in seed production and even after he was rejected for the post, he was honoured as 'outstanding teacher' by the university in 2012. Another candidate had 18 years of experience in seed production. Another candidate, who has 25 years of experience in the field, was rejected for the post but was given additional charge of the post and after his retirement in 2012, the additional charge was handed to a PhD in plant pathology but with no experience in seed production.