THE JHARKHAND STORY NETWORK
Ranchi, December 24: The four state-owned universities in Jharkhand will have to wait for full-time vice-chancellors (VCs) longer as Governor-cum-Chancellor CP Radhakrishnan has cancelled the panel to recruit new VCs, submitted by the search committee.
Justice Rongon Mukhopadhya of the Jharkhand High Court headed the search committee.
4 universities under stop-gap VCs
The four universities which are headed by stop-gap VCs for the last eight months are Nilamber Pitamber University (NPU), Medininagar (Daltonganj), Vinoba Bhave University (VBU), Hazaribag, Sido Kanho Murmu University (SKMU) Dumka and Kolhan University (KU), Chaibasa. Binod Bihari Mahto Koyalanchal University, Dhanbad, is also under an ad hoc VC after the Governor sacked the incumbent VC, Sukhdeo Bhoi, on corruption charges.
The search committee had invited 50 out of 240 candidates who had applied for the job for interaction. Of them, it shortlisted 12 (three each for 1 VC) candidates and submitted it in July to the Governor, who also consulted with Chief Minister Hemant Soren afterwards.
Notably, the Governor had received some complaints after the search committee did not invite several ‘eligible’ candidates for interactions.
After that, Radhakrishnan developed cold feet and kept his decision pending. “However, the indecisiveness crippled the functioning of these universities. So, he decided to cancel it and begin the appointment process afresh transparently,” said a source.
Petition in Jharkhand High Court
Ravindra Nath Bhagat, a professor of management at BIT Mesra, filed a writ petition in the Jharkhand High Court, citing severe irregularities in the appointment process adopted by the search committee.
Bhagat wanted to know the parameters for inviting a candidate and his rank in the merit list. “I objected to the selective invitation to some candidates and ignoring those who fulfilled all the criteria,” he pointed out.
He pointed out that he had also questioned the appointment of previous VCs, including Ramesh Pandey.
“It is good the Raj Bhawan has cancelled the panel; otherwise, it would have faced big embarrassment in the high court on January 3,” he asserted.
“I don’t know the fate of my petition after the Raj Bhawan cancelled the panel under challenge,” he pointed out.
