Cooch Behar, Sept. 2 -- Kartik Das, a professor in the Department of Political Science at Cooch Behar Panchanan Barma University, has been suspended following allegations that he secured his appointment using a fake Scheduled Caste (SC) certificate. The university issued a suspension notice on August 31.
The matter was made public by Rajkumar Karji, president of the Cooch Behar District BJP SC Morcha, at a press conference on Tuesday night. Karji alleged that Das had obtained the university job by submitting an invalid SC certificate and claimed that complaints regarding the matter had been made to the authorities for a considerable period.
According to Karji, the issue was initially brought to the attention of the Cooch Behar Sadar Sub-Divisional Officer and the concerned department. He claimed that the SDO's office subsequently cancelled the certificate and that the Backward Classes Department also cancelled it. Karji further alleged that after the matter was brought to the university's notice, the professor was served a 15-day show-cause notice. The issue was subsequently brought to the attention of state Education Minister Deepak Burman, following which the university decided to suspend Das on August 31.
Karji thanked the state government, the concerned department and the university vice-chancellor for taking action.
When contacted, university Vice-Chancellor Dr Sanchari Mukherjee said she was in a meeting and could not comment on the matter. The university has yet to issue a detailed public statement explaining the allegations, the cancellation of the certificate and the grounds for the professor's suspension.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.