JOIN USMinister bats for VC appointment overhaul amid govt-guv tussle
Higher Education Minister Basavaraj Rayareddy on Thursday called for an overhaul in the way vice-chancellors are appointed to universities, at a time when the state government has locked horns with the Raj Bhavan on the matter.
The posts of vice-chancellors at Bangalore University, University of Mysore and the Karnataka State Law University still remain vacant as Governor and Chancellor of the universities Vajubhai R Vala and the state government are not on the same page. Appointment of a VC to the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, too, has run into a roadblock.
“The current process is very complicated,” Rayareddy told a press conference, adding that it was an unprecedented situation where the post of vice-chancellor has been vacant in some universities for several months now.
The minister said the process of appointing vice-chancellors will become less complicated once the Karnataka State Universities Bill, 2017 - a common law that will govern all universities in the state - will be passed in the upcoming legislature session in November. The Bill has been passed in the Legislative Assembly.
“At present, the search committee to shortlist VCs has three members. We have proposed five members, with two nominees of the state government against the existing one,” he explained. “The Bill also raises the bar for who should be a member of the search committee. We have proposed academicians with 25 years of professorship. Similarly, a VC should have 25 years as a professor against the existing10,” he said.
The Finance department has cleared the recruitment of nearly 1,500 assistant professors in government-aided colleges, Rayareddy said, adding that a government order would be issued soon. He said 2,160 assistant professors will be hired for all 412 government first grade colleges by September. On 390 colleges not having permanent principals, he said a decision would be taken in a week on whether to go for direct recruitment or appoint principals through promotion. A committee headed by space scientist K Kasturirangan has been tasked with hiring the best faculty, including a director of global repute, for the Bengaluru Dr B R Ambedkar School of Economics, Rayareddy said.
Naming universities
The government wants to rename Gulbarga University after Basaveshwara and the Central University of Karnataka (Kalaburagi) after Dr B R Ambedkar, the minister said. “We have received suggestions to name other universities after Shishunala Sharif, Valmiki and others,” he said.