One vice-chancellor (VC) holding charge of four universities may not appear feasible to many but is a reality in Bihar. On Wednesday, Lalit Narayan Mishra UniversityтАЩs (Darbhanga) VC Professor Surendra Pratap Singh was given charge of one more university тАУ Aryabhatta Knowledge University (AKU), Patna – to take the total number of universities under his charge to four, HT has learnt.
тАЬI am a performer. At Pataliputra University, I did what was not done in the last two-and-half years. As long as the additional charge is there, I will discharge my duties with full devotion,тАЭ he said after taking charge at AKU.
The post at AKU fell vacant after pro-VC SM Karim, who was officiating as the acting VC by the Raj Bhawan, was reportedly asked to resign over the controversy surrounding the continuance Rajiv Ranjan as the registrar. Karim tendered his resignation after accepting RanjanтАЩs resignation.
The Raj Bhawan issued the notification Wednesday, accepting KarimтАЩs resignation as acting VC and handed over additional charge to SP Singh. The registrar at AKU is also under additional charge from another university.
AKU was set up in 2010 to regulate all technical institutions by bringing them under one umbrella. It has been without a regular VC since September 20, 2020, when the term of Arun Kumar Agarwal ended. Since then, Karim had been holding the additional charge of VC.
Earlier, Bihar Raj Bhawan had also given SP Singh the additional charge of Pataliputra University and Maulana Mazharul Haq Arabic and Persian University in Patna in addition to LNMU to make it four.
Besides Singh, TM Bhagalpur University VC Neelima Gupta is also holding the additional charge of Munger University, while BRA Bihar University VC Hanuman Prasad Pandey holds the additional charge of Nalanda Open University (NOU).
This is not the first time when any VC has been given charge of up to four universities in Bihar. It also happened during the time of former Bihar Governor late Devanand Konwar when the government and the Raj Bhawan were at loggerheads over the appointment of VCs and the matter landed up in the Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, in view of the pandemic, the vice-chancellors of LNMU and TMBU have moved a proposal to the Raj Bhawan for advancing the summer vacation in universities to May. Earlier, Patna University teachers association and employees association had also approached the VC for it. However, the Raj Bhawan has not yet taken any decision on it.
