PATNA, Dec. 26 -- In a new development, the joining of Bihar rural work minister Ashok Choudhary, who was recommended for the post of assistant professor in Pataliputra University last year in August by Bihar state university service commission (BSUSC), has been kept waiting. Pataliputra University on Monday released the list of 18 recommended candidates in political science subject for joining in different constituent colleges under it, but it did not have the name of the minister. As per the communique form the department of higher education, 274 candidates had been recommended against 280 vacancies in the subject, with six remaining vacant. "While three candidates were not available, two candidates in the unreserved category have been kept waiting as the scrutiny of their experience certificate is under process," it said. The minister, a candidate in the scheduled caste category, has been kept waiting, as his PhD degree awarded by Magadh University is yet to be scrutinised as per the University Grants Commission (UGC) regulations of 2009, says the communique. A senior department of higher education official said the minister's name was not recommended by the department. The newly created department's first secretary Rajiv Raushan, who took charge on December 15, said he was not aware of the matter as he had just joined and was not in a position to speak. The appointment of the minister had also generated a lot of heat in the run-up to the election, with the Jan Suraj Party (JSP) founder Prashant Kishor raising a question mark over it as well as the process. Choudhary was a minister in the previous Nitish cabinet also. The development came as a surprise as the empowered expert committee of BSUSC scrutinised the documents and awarded marks to the candidates, which formed the basis for interview call. After that BSUSC recommended the candidates for appointment. As per the paid down procedure, the appointing authority - the respective universities - verifies the documents/ folder before offering appointment letter after taking oath from candidates. Pataliputra University has also emphasised in its notification that "in case any of the certificates submitted by the candidates is found fake/tempered with at any stage their appointments are liable to be cancelled". The candidates also have to obtain clearance certificate from the registrar before joining. Bihar Raj Bhawan had in 2020 notified amendments in statute for the appointment of assistant professors in the state universities to relax some norms for Bihar candidates, giving exemptions to those who got registered for the Ph.D programme with Bihar universities prior to July 11, 2009. The minister did his Ph.D in 2002 itself. The amendment in the statute was done after the first appointment of assistant professors through the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC), the process for which started in 2014, made adherence to 2009 UGC regulations mandatory, which rendered doctorates from Bihar ineligible as the state universities could not timely implement it. As this generated a lot of political heat, the statute was amended in 2020, making 2009 regulations effective from the date of its notification in the concerned universities subject to fulfilment of certain conditions, as state's universities implemented it much later. Social analyst and former head of economics department at Patna University said the development pointed to government's lack of trust in its own institutions like BSUSC and the universities, as one organ has found him fit and the other unfit to create a bizarre situation. "Earlier recommendations were sent by the commission directly to the universities. It is not to say that the institutions are working perfectly. Dropping names after commission's recommendations speaks a lot about the trust deficit, as scrutiny of documents pertaining to qualifications, research and experience takes place for awarding marks on academics ahead of interview. The 2009 UGC regulations should apply to all candidates not one," he added....