One V-C, four universities to oversee

PATNA On Wednesday, SP Singh, vice-chancellor of Lalit Narayan Mishra University (Darbhanga), was given the charge of one more university, Aryabhatta Knowledge University (AKU), Patna

PATNA

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On Wednesday, SP Singh, vice-chancellor of Lalit Narayan Mishra University (Darbhanga), was given the charge of one more university, Aryabhatta Knowledge University (AKU), Patna.

With this, Singh now holds charge of four universities in the state.

AKU became headless after its pro-VC, S M Karim, who was made to officiate as acting V-C by the Raj Bhawan, was reportedly asked to resign over the controversy surrounding the continuance of Rajiv Ranjan as registrar. A few days ago, Karim tendered his resignation after accepting the resignation of the registrar.

Raj Bhawan issued the notification Wednesday, accepting Karim’s resignation, and handed over additional charge to SP Singh. The registrar at AKU is also under additional charge from another university.

AKU, set up in 2010 to regulate all technical institutions by bringing them under one umbrella, has been without a regular V-C since September 20, 2020, when the term of Arun Kumar Agarwal ended. Since then, Karim had been holding the additional charge of V-C.

Earlier, Bihar Raj Bhawan had also given SP Singh the additional charge of Pataliputra University and Maulana Mazharul Haq Arabic and Persian University in Patna in addition to LNMU to make it four.

Asked whether it will be tough for him to handle four universities in the midst of the pandemic, Singh said one has to shoulder responsibility when it comes. “I am a performer. In Pataliputra University, I have done what was not done in the last two-and-a-half years. As long as the additional charge is there, I will discharge my duties with full devotion,” he said, after taking charge at AKU.

Apart from Singh, TM Bhagalpur University VC Neelima Gupta is also holding the additional charge of Munger University, while BRA Bihar University VC Hanuman Prasad Pandey holds the additional charge of Nalanda Open University (NOU).

But then, it is not the first time that any V-C has been given charge of up to four universities in Bihar. It had also happened during the time of former Bihar Governor late Devanand Konwar when the government and the Raj Bhawan were at loggerheads over the appointment of VCs and the matter landed up in the Supreme Court.

Advancing summer vacation

In view of the pandemic, the LNMU VC and TMBU V-C have moved a proposal to the Raj Bhawan for advancing the summer vacation in universities to May. Earlier, Patna University teachers association and employees association had also approached the VC for it. However, the Raj Bhawan has not yet taken any decision on it.