Selection of full-term Vice-Chancellors: Cabinet to promulgate ordinance to form 5-member search panel

KOLKATA: The state Cabinet has decided to promulgate an ordinance to constitute five-member search committees for the selection of full-term Vice-Chancellors.

The search committee will now have five representatives instead of three, including a nominee from the University Grants Commission (UGC).

Apart from the UGC representative, the search committee will have a member nominated by the Governor, who is the ex-officio Chancellor of the state universities, a member from the court or senate of the concerned university, a member nominated from the state Higher Education Council and another state government nominated nominee. In the existing three-member search committee, there is no UGC representative. According to sources in the Education department, with the Assembly not in session, the government has decided to promulgate an ordinance. The nod of the Cabinet was necessary for accepting the proposal as an ordinance. Governor CV Ananda Bose recently has played a leading role in resolving the impasse regarding Vice-Chancellors of nearly 30 universities in Bengal.

The Supreme Court judgement dated October 11, 2022 had mandated UGC norms to be followed in the appointment of V-Cs, irrespective of contradictory provisions in the State Acts. Bose in strict adherence to UGC norms had called the Vice-Chancellors whose appointments were declared ab initio null and void by the October 2022 verdict and informed them of the implications of the court’s verdict. The V-Cs gracefully opted to resign, thus, obviating the serving of termination notices. To avoid disruption of university functions, they were granted interim appointments for 3 months.

The Bengal Cabinet has given the nod to roll out the centralised admission portal for undergraduate courses in state-run universities and colleges. In 2022, the government had paused the online platform due to technical glitches.

On February 17, the Higher Education department released a circular to inform state-run colleges and universities that centralised online admission will be implemented from 2023 for admission to undergraduate courses. A 10-member panel was also formed for the implementation.