Appointment of Patiala varsity VC ‘awaits Governor nod’
The long-pending appointment of a regular Punjabi University Vice-Chancellor is “awaiting the final nod” of Governor Gulab Chand Kataria after the state government cleared a panel of shortlisted candidates and sent it to him for approval, according to sources.
The appointment of a regular Vice-Chancellor at the Patiala university is pending since April 2024 after Prof Arvind’s three-year tenure ended.
Punjab’s Higher Education Secretary KK Yadav was holding the additional charge of the Vice-Chancellor till November last year. Currently, the post is unoccupied. A source said a search committee constituted to shortlist candidates for the post had sent a panel of three names to the Punjab Government a few weeks ago.
“This committee comprised the Chief Secretary, Principal Secretary (Higher Education), a renowned surgeon, Vice-Chancellor of another University, and a UGC nominee, who also happened to be a Vice- Chancellor,” the source said.
According to Punjab Government insiders, the file pertaining to the appointment of the Vice-Chancellor has been cleared by the government “but the final nod is awaited”. However, Punjab Higher Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains told The Tribune that the process to appoint a regular Vice-Chancellor is “almost complete” and an official announcement in this regard will be made soon.
“It is a matter of days before Punjabi University gets a regular Vice-Chancellor,” he said.
Meanwhile, the delay in the appointment has taken a toll on the university’s functioning. “Hundreds of students are awaiting their degrees, which need to be signed by the Vice-Chancellor, while urgent meetings for initiating the budget process will have to be held soon,” said Punjabi University Teachers’ Association Secretary Maninder Singh. “PhD scholars too are stuck with their registration process. There is total collapse of decision-making,” he added.