Sources in the state higher education department on Monday evening said that Omprakash Mishra, who is a faculty member at Jadavpur University, has been deputed in the vice chancellor’s post at North Bengal University for an interim period of two months to tide over the current crisis of the varsity functioning without a VC, registrar and finance officer for weeks.

Mishra was earlier put in the same post twice. He left the VC’s office in January this year after his second tenure ended.

“He is likely to join tomorrow (Tuesday). Once he joins, he will take the initiative to depute the registrar and the finance officer,” said a source. The NBU, set up in 1962, is the oldest and largest university in north Bengal.

Earlier in the day, a number of student organisations reached the North Bengal University (NBU) on the outskirts of Siliguri on Monday to protest against the crisis of funds at the varsity that is limping without the top three authorities at the helm.

Varsity officials, employees and teachers also held a meeting where they decided to go to Calcutta and knock on the doors of governor C.V. Ananda Bose — the varsity chancellor — and the state higher education department so that steps are taken immediately to remedy matters.

Members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) demonstrated in front of the administrative building and held a rally on the campus. They also burnt an effigy of state education minister Bratya Basu.

Shubhabrata Adhikari, a state secretary of ABVP, said the NBU was in a crisis without a VC, registrar and finance officer.

“There is a financial deadlock. It is surprising that the bus service, which helps students reach the NBU from Siliguri and other nearby areas, has stopped. There is a food crisis in hostels and academic activities are being hit. If the state doesn’t take immediate steps, we will launch an indefinite sit-in,” Adhikari said while taking party in the protest.

A delegation of the Chhatra Parishad also reached the NBU on Monday. The members also met joint registrar Swapan Rakshit and gave him a memorandum addressed to the governor.

“How can a varsity run without a VC and registrar? We know that as these posts are vacant, authorities of the colleges afflilated to the NBU are also facing several problems,” said Shahnawaz Hussain, Chhatra Parishad president of Darjeeling district.