Ahmedabad: A confrontation is brewing between the higher education department and management of Sahajanand Arts and Commerce College in Ahmedabad after the college trust allegedly refused to appoint a disabled candidate selected through a recent recruitment process.The dispute relates to the ongoing drive to fill reserved posts for persons with disabilities in grant-in-aid colleges, where several such vacancies have remained unfilled for years. As part of the exercise, interviews for the post of assistant professor in commerce and accountancy were recently conducted in Gandhinagar.According to sources, a disabled candidate was selected by the recruitment panel, following which the higher education department forwarded the recommendation to the college management for appointment. However, the trust reportedly declined to accept the candidate.The trust is learnt to have raised reservations about the candidate’s ability to teach the subject effectively due to the physical disability.The development has raised questions in academic circles over the sanctity of the centralised recruitment process. Educationists argue that allowing an individual college trust to reject a candidate selected through a govt-approved recruitment mechanism could undermine the very purpose of conducting a centralised selection exercise.Sources said the higher education department has warned the institution that it could face administrative consequences, including complications over the issuance of no-objection certificates, if it fails to comply with the recruitment process.The move, however, has drawn criticism from sections of the education sector, which contend that rejecting a selected candidate on such grounds runs contrary to the objective of ensuring representation and equal opportunities for persons with disabilities in higher education.
