New Delhi: Dr Pawan Kumar, associate professor at Dayal Singh College, Karnal Haryana, has been facing the toughest time in his life since 2022 as his dreams of becoming a full-fledged professor at Central University, Haryana, have been shattered due to mismanagement and forged documents (submitted by the selected candidate), who has now bagged the same position that could have been given to Prof Kumar, sources told ETV Bharat.
Dr Rajeev Kumar Singh, the candidate, who has now become a professor in the Department of Political Science, Central University, Haryana, on December 22, 2022, is also under rigorous scrutiny for submitting forged documents, misguiding the whole administrative process, and misusing his position for his own advantage, as per the documents accessed by ETV Bharat.
As per the documents, accessed by this reporter, the advertisement for the post of professor at the same university came out in April 2022. In the very first list, Dr Rajeev Kumar's name was there, along with Dr Pawan's. The interview's date was fixed for October 11, 2022, but it was later postponed. The complaint filed by Dr Pawan to Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan also highlights that "taking advantage of his position as an assistant registrar (establishment) cum candidate for the said post, Rajeev Kumar Singh removed my name from the list of candidates to be called for an interview when the new date for the interview was announced on December 4, 2022." It is learnt that he has joined as an assistant registrar in Central University on May 27, 2022.
Interestingly, Prof Singh has also been facing serious allegations of submitting forged documents when appointed as a professor at the Central University of Haryana. Dr Pawan has also registered his complaints with the authorities concerned, including the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), Haryana police, the Education Ministry and others.
Prof Singh enrolled in a Post-Doctoral Fellowship (PDF) programme at Banaras Hindu University (2011–2012), and even before the completion of his fellowship, he joined as a guest faculty at Central University, Jharkhand, on July 25, 2012, without any prior permission from ICSSR. As per the PDF rules, a scholar cannot take up any other job during the course of his or her fellowship without permission from ICSSR and quit the job on December 31, 2013.
The complaint filed by Dr Pawan to the ICCSR and others says that "it is a violation of the ICCSR rules and regulations" and urges the authorities to deliver justice. In response to Dr Pawan’s complaint, ICSSR stated that the matter is being examined and appropriate measures will be taken after ascertaining and examining the facts. In the meantime, the ICSSR, vide email dated 09.05.2023, has also directed Dr Rajeev Kumar Singh and the Central University of Haryana not to use the said certificate till the matter is resolved."
As per an RTI reply accessed by this reporter, "Dr. Singh discontinued the ICSSR PDF before even completion, and he neither informed the ICCSR nor the affiliation institution about his tenure at the Central University, Jharkhand." He did his fellowship for only 18 months, but received the letter for a full-fledged fellowship, which is a matter of concern and shows misgovernance and bias, a professor said on the condition of anonymity.
