HP: Information commission orders 'appropriate action' into 'anomalies' in appointment HODs at university

SHIMLA: The State Information Commission has ordered Himachal Pradesh University authorities to take "appropriate action" into alleged irregularities in the appointment of HODs in various departments of the University Institute of Technology (UIT). In an order issued on Saturday, Information Commissioner S S Guleria has asked the registrar of HP University to look into the matter after it came to light that these appointments were made at UIT, an engineering institute of HPU, without any provision of HOD posts and without approval of competent authority.

The information commissioner issued the order on an RTI plea of Vinay Kumar, a resident of Nadaun in Hamirpur district. Vice Chancellor of HPU, S P Bansal, told PTI that "the registrar would be asked to look into the issue". Bansal also said that a committee will be constituted in this regard. The information commission directed UIT Director A J Singh, who is also Public Information Officer (PIO) of the institute, to provide complete and correct information to the applicant within 15 days. Disposing of the RTI plea, the information commissioner directed that "appropriate action be initiated by the registrar of HPU and that the matter be put up before the competent authority for proper action".

"It is clearly established that this was done with a motive to give undue benefit to some faculty members which can be used to acquire additional advantage/benefits in seeking higher promotion. The information sought by the appellant has been denied, and no specific, complete and correct information has been provided," the order said.

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HPU: No position of HOD at university

Pointing out that as per the HPU ordinance and statute there is no position of HOD, the RTI applicant had sought information regarding appointment of HODs in the departments of Applied Sciences and Humanities, Electronics and Communication, Information Technology, Computer Science Engineering, and Civil and Electrical Engineering, and also sought the section/clause of ordinance under which the appointments were made.

When contacted, Education Minister Rohit Thakur told PTI that "rules should be followed and it (appointment) should be set right". Earlier, three assistant professors in the Department of Electrical Engineering, UIT, HPU, also brought the matter to the knowledge of the dean of studies in April 2025 through a letter. There are four assistant professors in the Department of Electrical Engineering and one of them is the head of the department.

The faculty members said it has come to their notice that "the HOD post in the said department has been in existence and operational since 2021. However, no such position exists in the HPU ordinance/ norms".

'No approval' was taken from VC

The faculty member occupying this position has continued in the role for about four consecutive years and this prolonged continuity raises questions regarding procedural propriety and adherence to the university's norms, they had added. PIO Singh sent a reply to the RTI applicant on December 1, 2024, but dissatisfied with the reply he filed an appeal with First Appellate Authority (FAA) but again the reply sent by FAA was not satisfactory. The appellant filed the second appeal before the information commission on March 2, 2025, with request to issue directions to the PIO and FAA to provide pointwise information as per his RTI application of November 7, 2024.

During the hearing, Singh admitted that there is no HOD post in the UIT. The PIO said that the HODs were "appointed by the director" despite the fact that there are "no posts of HOD" and also "no approval" was taken from the vice chancellor. "The PIO was unable to give satisfactory replies to the queries and stated that appointment of HODs was a stopgap arrangement as there was acute shortage of faculty in these departments. It was also submitted that there was no approval from the VC and the FAA decided the first appeal ignoring the contents of RTI application and provisions of RTI Act, 2005," the information commissioner said in the order. The commissioner also ordered that the PIO shall provide complete and correct information as per factual position to the appellant within 15 days from the passing of this order under intimation to this commission.