After Guv’s approval, 4 univs get permanent V-Cs

Kolkata: Four more state-aided universities in Bengal have been appointed vice-chancellors (V-C) after Governor CV Ananda Bose, who is also the Chancellor of the universities, approved the recommended names, set in order of preference by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Sources confirmed that five candidates were called to the Raj Bhavan on Tuesday, with four of them being approved by the Governor for the posts. The newly-appointed V-Cs are: Tapati Chakraborty for Kanyashree University in Nadia, Jane Alam for Murshidabad University, Sourangshu Mukhopadhyay for Mahatma Gandhi University in East Midnapore and Nandini Sahu for Hindi University in Howrah.

According to the appointment letters issued on Tuesday by the state Higher Education department, each V-C will serve a four-year term or until they reach the age of 70, whichever comes first, effective from their joining date.

With these appointments, the number of state universities in Bengal with permanent V-Cs has now reached ten. Earlier, on December 6 the Governor had approved the appointments of six full-term V-Cs, following which the state’s Higher Education department issued the relevant orders.

The search-cum-selection committee, led by former Chief Justice of India UU Lalit, prepared a panel of three candidates for each of the 34 universities. The names were sent to the Raj Bhavan on November 21, with a final order of preference set by the CM. On Monday, during a Supreme Court (SC) hearing, the Court was informed that the Chancellor had approved the names of six V-Cs, with another five approvals expected by Monday or Tuesday, bringing the total to 11. The SC set a three-week deadline for the Governor to scrutinise and approve the remaining V-C appointments, following a request from the Attorney General of India to grant some more time to the Governor to finalise the names for the remaining universities.