New Delhi: Offices of Vice chancellors of sixteen central universities remain vacant more than a year after the last office bearer demitted it. The Congress led UPA government had set up search-cup-selection committees for eight of them a few months before the general elections but the new NDA government scrapped the panels to set up their own.
Realizing how long the process to appoint VCs is; Ministry of Human Resources Development (HRD) has now decided that the process of appointment will begun at least a year before the incumbent retires. A ministry official said the ministry wants to put in place a seamless system.
During a discussion in Rajya Sabha, Upper House of the Parliamernt, HRD ministry informed the house about the development on the appointment of the VCs of sixteen central universities. VCs for central universities of Kerala, Punjab, Gujarat, Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University have been appointed. Search committee has sent its recommendations for appointments in the universities of Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh and Dr Harisingh Gour Vishwavidyalaya. The ministry said the search committees for the appointment of VCs in Haryana and Bihar central universities have been constituted. Appointments in Central University of Kashmir and Guru Ghasidas Vishwavidyalaya are on advanced stage. Though, the central universities of Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and North-East Hill University, Meghalaya are yet to advertise for the posts.
The delay was caused by the time taken in abolishing the search committees set up by the UPA and constituting new ones. There were some reports of complaints about the constitution of search committees and allegations of conflict of interest against the search committee members, major reason behind the scrapping of the committees.
