Ahmedabad: Within a month of assuming charge, Gujarat University’s (GU) in charge vice-chancellor Jagdish Joshi has suspended around 10 temporary employees appointed controversially. The suspensions come on the recommendations of a three-member inquiry committee formed after protests by student organisations.According to sources, the employees were appointed on a temporary basis to key positions during the tenure of former VC Neerja Gupta, allegedly without a transparent selection process. Many of them were former bank and ONGC officials. Their salaries ranged from Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 5 lakh a month. In one instance, an official appointed at GUSEC on a Rs 5 lakh salary is alleged to have received nearly Rs 1.75 crore over three years. A director from the Centre for Professional Courses was given additional charge of the prestigious KS School of Business Management, leading to resentment among university faculty members.As student groups launched protests after Gupta’s term ended, GU formed an inquiry committee, which recommended suspending the employees to ensure a fair and impartial inquiry into their qualifications, eligibility and appointment process.
