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Gujarat Vidyapith to invite guv to take over as chancellor amid VC controversy
The Gujarat Vidyapith has decided to accept the resignation of well-known Gandhian Ela Bhatt as chancellor who cited her advanced age for her decision to step down
The Gujarat Vidyapith has decided to accept the resignation of well-known Gandhian and founder of Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), Ela Bhatt as chancellor and decided to approach Gujarat governor Acharya Devvrat to take over as the 12th chancellor of the deemed university.
The decision came at a time when the Gujarat Vidyapith, founded by Mahatma Gandhi in 1920, is facing a controversy regarding the appointment of Dr Rajendra Khimani as the vice-chancellor. The Gujarat high court on September 21 set aside a petition filed by Khimani in March that challenged a decision taken by the University Grants Commission (UGC) in November 2021 for his removal as the vice-chancellor.
The court has given eight weeks’ time to the university to pass appropriate orders based on the UGC report that sought Khimani’s dismissal on the grounds that there were procedural lapses in his appointment. The report also claimed that there were administrative and financial irregularities by Khimani during his time as registrar at the Gujarat Vidyapith.
Bhatt cited her advanced age for her decision to step down and requested the trustees to look for a replacement while tendering her resignation a few months ago.
“The governing council of the Gujarat Vidyapith met on October 4. After detailed discussion, it was decided to accept the resignation tendered by chancellor Ela Bhatt and respect her feelings,” the Gujarat Vidyapith said in a statement on Tuesday.
It further said that Bhatt will remain in the post till October 19.
“It was also decided with a majority vote to invite Gujarat governor Acharya Devvrat to take over as the 12th chancellor of the Gujarat Vidyapith. A Gujarat Vidyapith delegation will go to invite the governor,” the statement added.
Khimani was appointed as registrar in 2004 and remained so until 2019 when he retired. Later on, he was appointed as VC in June 2021.
In the 554th meeting of UGC on November 25, 2021, that was presided by then chairman Dhirendra Pal Singh, the commission directed chancellor Bhatt to sack Khimani with immediate effect in view of several procedural lapses.
It further resolved that failing to comply with these directions would attract penal action in accordance with the UGC Act, 1956 and the UGC (Institutions Deemed to be Universities) Regulations, 2019, including that of withholding of grants, according to minutes of the meeting.
“The Commission considered the report of the UGC Committee and observed that there are procedural lapses in the appointment of Khimani as vice-chancellor of Gujarat Vidyapith,” it said while adding that “fact finding committee” of UGC constituted separately found that Khimani was also responsible for certain lapses in the administrative and financial functioning of the Gujarat Vidyapith as Registrar during the period from April 1, 2014 till April 30,2019.
