UGC TO BAN SECOND TERM FOR VCs IN SAME VARSITY.

UGC to ban second term for VCs in same varsity





CHARU SUDAN KASTURI



New Delhi, Sept. 27: The University Grants Commission will ban varsities across the country from re-appointing the same vice-chancellors for a second term after the end of their five-year tenure in a move aimed at limiting politicisation of post.

In new regulations setting minimum qualification requirements at all Indian varsities, the UGC is specifically barring reappointments for VCs at the same university, The Telegraph has learnt.

“There shall not be a re-appointment of the vice-chancellor for the second term in the same university,” according to the draft regulations to be published in the Gazette of India.

The draft regulations do, however, clarify that “appointment for another term as vice-chancellor is admissible in other central/state universities” based on the candidate’s performance in his first stint as VC.

The tenure of a VC, his service conditions and whether he can be re-appointed at present can technically vary from university to university.

Till now, these conditions were laid down by the statutes accompanying the act — of Parliament or Assemblies — that created the university, and not by the UGC.

While all other central universities already specifically forbid a second term for a VC, the statutes governing Jamia Millia Islamia — also a central university — allow the re-appointment of a VC.

State universities in different parts of the country follow different norms at present.

But once the new UGC regulations come into effect, all universities across the country have to — if necessary — amend their statutes to meet the minimum qualifications for appointments that the commission is laying down.

UGC sources expressed hope that the move would end any fears of the incumbent VC influencing the selection panel that has to either re-appoint him or find a new choice.

The bar on a second term at the same university for VCs comes amid stated efforts by human resource development minister Kapil Sibal to reduce political interference in appointments of varsity chiefs.

Sibal has already announced intentions to set up an independent collegium of academic experts that will recommend central university VCs, replacing the current practice under which an HRD ministry-appointed team shortlists candidates.

The current mechanism to appoint VCs has repeatedly drawn criticism from academics who allege that it allows the HRD ministry to appoint pliant members on the VC selection panel.

The UGC move also comes close on the heels of a long-drawn battle for the post of VC at Jamia, which eventually embroiled even advisers to UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi.



SOURCE;THE TELEGRAPE