Three universities are running without vice-chancellors in north Bengal, much to the inconvenience of other officials of these institutions.

They have pointed out that various administrative and academic works are getting affected and delayed as the VC’s office is vacant.

While there is no VC at North Bengal University and Darjeeling Hill University for around a fortnight, the VC’s chair is lying vacant at Alipurduar University for one-and-ahalf months.

“Students, faculty members, and the non-teaching staff are facing various problems in these varsities. There are problems with regard to financial issues as the top administrative post is vacant. The state government should immediately take steps to depute VCs in these institutions,” said a senior professor of NBU.

On September 29 last year, Omprakash Mishra, a faculty of Jadavpur University was appointed as the interim vice-chancellor of NBU with an additional charge of Darjeeling Hill University after Subires Bhattacharyya, the immediate past VC, was removed from his post as he was arrested on the charges of corruption in recruitment of teachers.

Mishra worked for some months and left after his tenure ended. He was reappointed and again, on January 25, his second term ended. Since then, no one has been put in the VC’s post at NBU and thus, there is also no vice-chancellor in the hill varsity.

“NBU has several committees including the court, the executive council, the academic departmental committee and the hostel monitoring committee. As there is no vice-chancellor in the varsity, meetings of these committees could not be conducted,” said a source.

Samar Biswas, president of the teachers’ council of NBU and a professor of the anthropology department, admitted that the university is facing financial issues in absence of the vice-chancellor.

In Alipurduar, the situation is similar. On December 23, 2020, Mahendranath Roy, head of the chemistry department of NBU, was put in the VC’s post for two years. He returned to his old post in December last year, which left the VC’s chair vacant.

Sources said funds have come for the improvement of infrastructure of the varsity but those couldn’t be spent as the VC’s post is vacant. Also, the recruitment of teachers and non-teaching staff has stopped at the varsity.