Recruitment of Teachers in Universities A Proposal H SRIKANTH In the debate in EPW on the relevance of UGC-NET, the critics (K M Seethi, June 3, A K Bagchi July 29 and Sajid Ibrahim October 7, 2000) have examined how the external actors like the UGC, the central government, the Hindutva forces, etc, have been facilitating the recruitment of not-so-deserving candidates as teachers in the universities. While the points they have raised are not without merit, I feel they have given very little attention to the actual processes that determine the recruitment of teachers in Indian universities. The NET model is no doubt elitist in its approach, but the earlier system of recruitment was no better. There is a need to ensure that our opposition to the anti-people educational policies of the government does not end up as endorsement of all that is polluted and rotten in the university system.
