Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) is among 10 central varsities whose wait for regular vice-chancellors will be prolonged further as they don’t feature among the 12 institutions to which President Ram Nath Kovind has appointed VCs.
The universities that have got VCs are North Eastern Hill University, Guru Ghasidas University, Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Manipur University and central universities in Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Hyderabad and Bihar.
In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, education minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that posts of VCs were vacant in 22 central universities.
JNU, Banaras Hindu University (BHU) and Delhi University (DU) are among the central varsities that do not have regular VCs.
Prof. M. Jagadesh Kumar is serving as the in-charge VC of JNU after he completed his tenure in January this year, while Prof. V.K. Shukla is the in-charge VC of BHU after Prof. Rakesh Bhatnagar completed his tenure in March. Prof. P.C. Joshi is the in-charge VC of DU since October last year after Prof. Yogesh Tyagi was suspended.
In response to a question by Indian Union Muslim League leader Abdul Wahab about the reasons for the delay in the appointment of VCs, particularly that of JNU, Pradhan said the incidence and filling up of vice-chancellor vacancies was a continuous process.
“The process of appointment of vice-chancellor in a central university is a time-consuming exercise which involves getting executive council/court’s nomination(s) of the concerned central university, constitution of search-cum-selection committee, advertisement of posts, scrutiny of applications, interaction with the shortlisted candidates, getting vigilance clearances, approval of the competent authority, etc, hence, no time-frame can be indicated,” Pradhan said in his written reply.
A retired bureaucrat said the appointment of VCs and directors in IITs and other centrally funded institutions usually took around six months.
“There is no rule prescribed for the time limit on the appointment of VCs and directors. But in practice, the process takes about six months. The advertisement is issued six months prior to the completion of the tenure of the incumbent VC,” the retired official said.
An official in the education ministry said it had set up search-cum-selection panels for the appointment of VCs of JNU, BHU and DU. Retired bureaucrats Yogendra Narain and Hasmukh Adhia are heading the panels for JNU and BHU, respectively, while Manipur University chancellor Prof. T. Tirupati Rao is heading the panel for DU. The panels are yet to interact with candidates.
The JNU Teachers’ Association has written several times to the education ministry about the “arbitrary” and “undemocratic” functioning of the varsity administration under the leadership of Kumar.
A JNU teacher alleged that the varsity administration took decisions and actions to appease certain sections of the faculty and victimise others who opposed Kumar’s way of functioning. Kumar issued showcause notices to 48 faculty members in 2018 for taking part in a protest on the campus. He also stopped the pension and retirement benefits of a teacher who had been showcaused. But Delhi High Court set aside the decision.
An education ministry official said it had completed the process of appointment of VCs in 15 universities that were sent to the President, who is the Visitor for all central varsities, for approval. The appointment files of Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri National Sanskrit University and Central Sanskrit University in Delhi and Dr Harisingh Gour University in Madhya Pradesh have been returned to the ministry without approval, the official said.
Sources said some candidates whose names were in the search-cum-selection panels withdrew themselves from the race at the last moment. It is not clear if the ministry will initiate a fresh appointment process or ask the selection committee to suggest more names.
