Move to amend rule on VC appointment put on hold

Jaipur: The state government’s move of injecting a provision of 20-year experience in journalism as one among many eligibility norms for the post of vice-chancellor in the Act of Harideo Joshi University of Journalism and Mass Communication (HJU) has been put under review following the Supreme Court order dismissing the appointment of VC of Sardar Patel University in Anand (Gujarat).
Dev Swarup has taken over the additional charge of vice-chancellor of Haridev Joshi University of Journalism and Mass Communication on Tuesday. He is the founding VC of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Law University, Jaipur. He has served as additional secretary in the UGC besides holding the position of VC, University of Rajasthan (2013-2014).
Quoting the UGC norms, the experts have alerted senior officials of the higher education department that the core eligibility criteria for VCs listed by the UGC neither can be tampered with nor any new criteria can be added. The move is seen to grant a second term to senior scribe Om Thanvi whose first term of three years expired on March 7.
A source said the draft incorporating the change has been approved by the departments concerned. However, the court decision on March 4 has forced the government to rethink its decision.
“The draft proposal injecting the provision was prepared and approved by the higher education and the law department. It is however put on hold following the technical issue,” said a senior official.
The UGC regulation 2018 clearly mandates that “Vice-Chancellor to be appointed should be a distinguished academician, with a minimum of 10 years of experience as a professor in a university system or 10 years of experience in an equivalent position in a reputed research or academic administrative organisation.” The Supreme Court had on March 4 called the appointment of Shirish Kulkarni as the VC of Sardar Patel University in Anand as “illegal and contrary to the UGC norms. Kulkarni didn’t meet the criteria of 10 years of teaching experience of a teacher. “The state has the right to make the law of universities but under the tight purview of the UGC regulations. The move will only embarrass the government,” said Puneet Sharma, an expert on higher education.