State education department extends time to appoint vice-chancellor

The education department has extended the period within which a vice-chancellor has to be appointed after the term of the incumbent ends from six months to 12 months.

The West Bengal University Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, promulgated a few days ago, spells out the change.

The extension was formalised days before the tenure of several interim VCs was going to end.

A senior official of the state education department said that 24 VCs are serving their three-month extension period that will end this month or early in June.

The 24 VCs, whose earlier extension had been questioned by then governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, had submitted their resignation to his successor C.V. Ananda Bose in February and got a fresh three-month extension.

It would be difficult to appoint full-term VCs through the newly-constituted five-member search committee within six months.

The official said they had extended the search period so that the committee created through the ordinance gets time to recommend a panel of names to fill up the posts.

This would enable those who are already officiating to continue for some more time, allowing the search process to be completed, he said.

“We have approached the governor who is the chancellor of state universities so that he extends the tenure of the 24 VCs whose term will end by May or early June. We have sought a six-month extension as the search for full-term VCs will take time,” the official told The Telegraph.

The ordinance says in the Calcutta University Act 1979, sub-section (6), the words “six months” shall be substituted with “twelve months”.

Sub-section 6 of the Act reads: “The vacancy in the office of vice-chancellor….occurring by the expiry of his term, removal or otherwise shall be filled by the appointment of a vice-chancellor….within a period of six months from the date of occurrence of the vacancy.”

The substitution has been inserted in the acts of other universities also.