Calcutta, Dec 18: The executive council of Jadavpur University has recently deferred the induction of lecturers and readers for its Mathematics department following a sharp division among members of the selection panel.

The eight selectors, divided in two groups, submitted to the council on December 15 two separate lists of teachers who could be recruited.

However, the council deferred discussion on the recruitment of Mathematics lecturers and readers and the date for the next executive council meeting is yet to be decided.

The selection panel had interviewed 150 candidates for five posts of lecturers in the Mathematics department.

Four of the panel?s members had refused to put on top of the list the name of one candidate, though the aspirant had stood first in both his B.Sc and M.Sc examinations from Calcutta University.

On their part, these members put on top of their list a candidate who got first class in his M.Sc examination from Jadavpur University. The candidate has not got first class in any other examination.

Three members of the selection panel had opposed the move by their colleagues to put a ?less qualified candidate? on the top of the panel of teachers who could be taken in.

As a result of the division among the selection committee members, two separate lists were prepared and placed before the executive council meeting on December 15.

The development has created ripples among university teachers.

?Ours is a university that was awarded five-star status by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council, which provided Rs 30 crore. We should be careful about recruiting teachers and should not appoint any candidate whose academic qualification is less compared to those applied for the posts of lecturers,? said an executive council member.

The selection committee members had also differed over other candidates on the list. Interestingly, the nominee of the governor, who is also the chancellor of the university, had also opposed the move to put the ?less qualified? candidate on top of the list.

Varsity sources termed the incident ?unprecedented? and felt such things should not recur in the interest of maintaining academic excellence.