JKPSC Selects 2 APs in Biotechnology Who Did Not Fulfil Basic Criteria

Mountain Ink reached out to BR Sharma, chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission, for a comment but he refused.

SRINAGAR — Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission selection list for the post of Assistant Professor in Biotechnology in the higher education department reeks of fraud as three candidates, who had scored less points than the requisite cut off, were called in for the interview and two of them were selected.

The Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission (JKPSC) in a notification confirmed that out of 330 candidates who applied, 30 were shortlisted for the interview for 10 posts in Biotechnology.

The cut off for Open Merit (OM) was 34.92, 26.16 for Scheduled Caste (SC), 26.83 for Scheduled Tribe (ST), and 26.59 for Resident of Backward Area (RBA).

Candidates, Pankaj Shard from Hiranagar Jammu, Asif Amin from Karan Nagar Srinagar, and Usha Kiran from Jammu were called in for the interview, even though their aggregate points were less than the cut-off points as declared by the PSC.

There are only four categories valid in PSC: SC, ST, OM and RBA. Categories such as Social Caste (SLC) or Other Backward Categories (OBC) aren’t entertained by the PSC.

According to the “ANNEXURE A” to the notification number 84– PSC (DR-S) of 2021 issued on November 3, 2021, Pankaj Shard from the Open Merit category had scored 32.68 and Asif Amin, also from the same category (together with SLC) had scored 33.64. The other candidate, Usha Kiran, from the SC category had scored 24.16.

Asif Amin scored 33.64 for his academic performances, 0 for his post-doctoral experience, 0 for NCC, 0 for sports and 0 for gold medals. But, he was still called for the interview. In the interview, he scored 6 points out of 6 for publications, 4.25 out of 5 for the book, 2.25 out of 5 for paper presentation and 20.50 in the viva, taking his total tally of points to 66.64 and thus making his selection possible.

Pankaj Shard scored 32.18 for his academic performances, 0.50 for post-doctoral experience, 0 for NCC, 0 for sports and 0 for gold medals. Again, Pankaj was called for an interview even after scoring only 32.68. In the interview, he scored 1.5 points out of 6 for publication, 0 out of 5 for the book, 0 out of 5 for paper presentation and 17.50 in the viva, taking his total score to 52.18. He couldn’t make it to the final list.

Usha Kiran scored 24.16 for her academic performances, 0.50 for post-doctoral experience, 0 for NCC, 0 for sports and 0 for gold medals. Even after scoring only 24.16, she was called for an interview. In the interview, she scored 0 points for publication, 0 for the book, 0 for paper presentation and 24 in the viva, taking her total score to 48.16, and hence securing a place in the final selection list.

All the three candidates were shortlisted for the interview and two of them, Asif Amin and Usha Kiran were selected in the final list.

The final selection list was put out on November 3, and as per PSC guidelines, should have been sent to the Higher Education Department within one week. While the selection list of other subjects was sent to the department within five days, the list of candidates selected for Biotechnology hasn’t been sent even after seven weeks.

Mountain Ink reached out to BR Sharma, chairman of Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission, for a comment but he refused to make any comment.