Recruitment notice of MPSC seems drawn from admission criteria to PhD of MU What is MPSC up to, question retired Profs, academicians

By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Dec 29: What on earth is the MPSC doing, and what is it up to?--This was the reaction of some of the seniormost and retired Professors The Sangai Express spoke to on the recruitment notice the commission issued recently.
The very "revised" notification the Manipur Public Service Commission (MPSC) issued on December 19 in connection with recruitment of as many as 419 Assistant Professors was exposed by this paper on December 28.
The recruitment is for filling posts of Assistant Professors in Government Colleges under the Higher Education Department.
The notification for the recruitment was first issued on December 5, 2025.
It later issued a revised notification dated December 19, and replaced the "Concerned Subject" in the education & other qualifications clause with "Concerned/Relevant/Allied Subject" thus allowing, for example, Home Science students to apply for the post of Assistant Professor in Economics.
Significantly, the revised notification of the MPSC referred to an office memorandum, Manipur University issued on September 12, 2025 which identified and listed "Allied subjects for admission to PhD Programme in various Depart- ments of the university.
It may be noted here that the MU's office memorandum which identified and listed "Allied Subjects" was solely for the purpose of admission to PhD programmes and not recruitment of Assistant Professors.
Nonetheless, the MPSC used this as a reference in its revised notification for recruitment of Assistant Professors--broadening the eligibility qualifications/criteria, and raising serious concerns among academics and intellectuals on the possible outcome of such a "serious blunder".
Through the revised notification, the MPSC has allowed Statistics students to apply for the posts of Assistant Professors in Mathematics, and students of Public Administration, International Relations to apply for posts of Assistant Professors in Political Science.
Here, it may be pointed out that the same subjects mentioned above and many more listed as allied subjects by the MPSC now in its revised notification were not recognised and allowed in a recruitment held for 145 posts of Assistant Professor, notified in 2021.
The 2021 notification for recruitment of 145 posts of Assistant Professor as well as 45 posts of Assistant Professor (Special Drive for ST category) on contractual basis was issued by the Directorate of University and Higher Education.
In the 2021 recruitment for the subject Mathematics, the Directorate rejected the candidature of a female applicant on the ground that her educational qualification was MSc Statistics.
Another female candidate with MA, PhD in Agricultural Economics was rejec- ted for the post for Assistant Professor in Economics.
Several candidates with MA Public Administration were rejected and not considered for the post of Assistant Professor in Political Science.
Many candidates with MSC Ecology and MSc Biotechnology were not considered for the post of Assistant Professor in Botany.
Note: These subjects, Ecology and Biotechnology are now identified/listed as allied subjects and allowed to apply for the post in Botany as per the revised MPSC notification.
The list of rejected candidates and grounds for their rejection was notified by the Directorate of University and Higher Education on July 13, 2021.
Meanwhile, some senior and retired Professors of Manipur University this paper reached out to for comment said the MPSC may have committed a "serious blunder" in issuing the revised notification which has broadened the eligibility criteria.
"Doing research and the profession of teaching are two different things. In PhD or research, different fields may meet in some areas. But, when it comes to recruitment of Assistant Professor, the criteria or question usually is--does the candidate have a Master's Degree in the specific subject?" said a retired Professor.
A Home Science student may know some basics or portions of Economics, but how can he teach Economics to undergraduate and Master students when he is not specialised in the concerned subject ? the retired Professor asked, questioning the rationale behind the MPSC's "new norms".
A Home Science student applying for the post of Assistant Professor in Economics is unheard of, he said.
"Even if the MPSC claims that the new norms are an interpretation of the National Education Policy's multi-disciplinary approach or focus, it lacks rationale and objectivity. The NEP is new and is yet to be fully implemented, and there has been no study or trial conducted in the area," said the retired Professor.
If the so-called allied subjects are allowed and considered for recruitment, then there is no longer any reason for specialisation of subjects, he added.
Some Assistant Professors and senior Professors of the university also echoed the same concern, and said that the MPSC was wrong to refer to the MU's notification which was speci- fically meant for admission to PhD programmes.
Meanwhile, Kh Lalmani Singh, Controller of Examination of the Manipur Public Service Commission told The Sangai Express that the revised notification was issued as per the rules specified and intimated by the Department of Higher Education.
The MPSC is the recruiting body but it does not formulate the eligibility criteria, he said over the phone.
The MPSC is in constant touch with the relevant Department, he said.
The Department of Higher Education has just informed about the possibility of forming a committee to look into the process of the recruitment, he said.
When asked if the committee will look into the controversial revised notification, he said, the committee, when it is formed, will look into all aspects of the recruitment including the revised notification.
A decision may be taken soon, he said, without specifying if the decision pertains to the revised notification.
"This issue that has now surfaced will not be easy to resolve," he said, while hinting that the revised notification may stand.
"There has been a ruling in a High Court" that may justify the revised notification, he added.
A document, the Controller of Examination shared, showed the High Court of Himachal Pradesh ruling in favour of a candidate with MSc Botany (enrolled in PhD programme in Forest Department) who had applied for the post of Assistant Professor, Forest Products.
"...Once MSc in the subject of Botany was considered as allied subject" for PhD, the respondents could not have ignored the same while considering afore qualification for the purposes of selection to the post of Assistant Professor," said a part of the November 2025 ruling in the case of Seema Sharma vs Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry.