Ranchi, Dec.14: Sensing trouble, Jharkhand Governor CP Radhakrishnan is said to have developed cold feet over the appointment of vice chancellor of four state-owned universities, which have been under a stop-gap arrangement for over eight months.
The search committee interacted with the prospective candidates on July 8 and submitted the list of 12 to the governor, who, after that, is said to have consulted with Chief Minister Hemant Soren, too.
Corruption in VCs’ appointment
Whispers in the corridors of power over corruption in the appointment of vice-chancellors during his predecessor Ramesh Bais’ tenure and a case in the Jharkhand High Court alleging irregularities in inviting the prospective candidates for interaction are said to have forced Radhakrishnan to tread a cautious path. Besides, the Raj Bhawan has received several complaints in this regard.
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 VCX after the governor sacked the incumbent VC Sukhdeo VC on corruption charges.
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The tenure of Dr Mukul Narayan Dev VBU, Hazaribagh, Dr Sona Jharia Minj (SKMU) Dumka, Dr. Gangadhar Panda, KU, Chaibasa, and Dr. Ram Lakhan Prasad Singh, NPU, ended in May/June last.
Will not tolerate corruption: Governor
Notably, during a workshop at the Raj Bhawan some time back, Radhakrishnan firmly said he would not tolerate corruption in the VCs’ appointments.
“I know that money is also taken for the appointment of the Vice Chancellor. This will not happen now in Jharkhand. If I get information that someone has taken money for the appointment of Vice Chancellor, I will remove him,” he said.
He had assured the appointment of Vice Chancellor in Jharkhand would be completely transparent and based on merit.
The governor’s remarks made it clear that he knew that merit alone did not decide earlier appointments.
According to sources, there was a complaint against Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee University VC Dr Tapan Kumar Shandilya and Ranchi University VC Ajit Kumar Sinha for not holding the requisite ten years’ experience as a professor. Ironically, Shandilya has also got an additional charge as VC of NPU, Medininagar (Daltonganj).
Writ in Jharkhand High Court
Ravindra Nath Bhagat, a professor of management at BIT Mesra, who has filed a case, pointed out that the Raj Bhawan stated in its reply to the Jharkhand high court that 50 out of 240 candidates had been invited for interaction in order of merit. Of them, the search committee shortlisted 12 (three each for 1 VC) candidates and submitted them for the governor to take a final call. The State government stated that the Raj Bhawan had conducted the VCs’ selection, so it had nothing to say.
Bhagat wanted to know the parameters for inviting a candidate and his rank in the merit list. “I have objected to the selective invitation to some candidates and ignoring those who fulfilled all the criteria,” he pointed out. The high court is scheduled to hear the case on January 3.
“I don’t know all. But ignoring Dr Kunur Kandir, HoD, Botany, RU, Dr Vimal Mishra, VBU and Dr Arun Kumar Sinha, ex-Pro VC, RU, has certainly raised eyebrows,” Bhagat said, adding he too holds 14 years of experience as a professor.
He argued that the final selection depended on the search committee; still, all those who fulfilled the criteria prescribed in the advertisement published for the VCs’ appointment should have been invited for interaction.
Search committee
The search committee consisted of Jharkhand High Court judge Rongon Mukhopadhyay, HRD Secretary Rahul Purwar and a UGC-nominated member. The Governor’s OSD (Judicial) M C Narain was the committee’s member-secretary.
