Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS), Faridkot, has suspended nearly 200 administrative wing employees after suspicions were raised over their appointments. According to officials familiar with the matter, the action came after the state government-funded institute’s board of management (BoM) pointed to suspected lapses in the recruitment process.
University authorities remained tight-lipped over the entire issue, including the exact number of people under the scanner, how the suspicion surfaced and the role of officials, which is also under the scanner for alleged irregularities.
The newly appointed vice-chancellor, Manjit Singh Brar, a 2007-batch IAS officer, remained unavailable for comment. Registrar Girish Sahni said the process is underway and it is too early to comment on the matter.
Officials aware of the matter said the individuals were given appointment letters from April last year till July this year, anticipating that the BoM would grant its approval to the recruitments. A university functionary, seeking anonymity, said the BoM held a meeting on August 11 where the matter of suspected violation of the university’s rules and regulations was deliberated and the competent authority declined to grant approval to the appointments.
“On August 12, the individuals were informed about the suspension until a BoM committee audits the credentials of each appointee’s eligibility and the process adopted to hire them. The university has granted them an opportunity for a personal hearing and instructed them all to appear before a review committee on Thursday for scrutiny of appointments,” said the official.
According to officials, the appointees have been accorded a chance to prove that their appointment was done on merit. The suspension note also stated that if an individual fails to appear before the panel on August 20, they will be subjected to further action based on the records available without any further notice.
