Lok Bhavan forms search panels for appointments of VCs in 10 state varsities

The candidates will face search committees after their credentials are screened and they are shortlisted.

Bihar Lok Bhavan has constituted search committees for the appointment of vice chancellors in Bihar’s 10 state universities, which have drawn a large number of applicants from across the country. These candidates will face search committees after their credentials are screened and they are shortlisted.

Bihar Governor Lt. Gen. (Retd) Syed Ata Hasnain pays tribute to the statue of Bharat Ratna Dr Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya on his birth anniversary during Abhiyanta Diwas Samaroh at the Abhiyanta Bhawan in Patna on Tuesday. (Santosh Kumar/HT)

Dipak Kumar Singh, Additional Chief Secretary to the Governor, said that the number of applicants was large and could range from 600 to 800 for each university.

“The search committee will soon hold an online meeting to work out the modalities for screening applicants. The Chancellor’s nominee or UGC nominee - from outside the state -- have been informed and will arrive once it is time to interact with the shortlisted candidates,” he added.

Another senior official of the Lok Bhawan said that five search committees have been formed for the 10 universities, and unlike before, the state government nominee will also be different for each search committee.

“We have not yet initiated the process for appointing Pro-Vice Chancellors in the state universities. The number of applicants may rise further once applications are invited for Pro-VCs as well. For every university, we have already received around 600-800 applications for the post of VC. There is a general feeling that the appointments will be based on merit, which has drawn applicants from across the country. Another factor behind such a good response may be that this time applications were sought through the centralised Samarth Portal for VC recruitment system,” he added.

To ensure wider outreach and facilitate participation from a larger pool of eligible candidates across the country, the applications this time have been accepted only through the portal for greater transparency.

The Samarth Portal is an online platform created by the ministry of education, government of India, to manage applications for VC and Pro-VC positions in higher education institutions. Users can apply to multiple advertised leadership vacancies across participating universities without re-entering their data.

The position of Pro-VCs remained vacant in the state universities for a long time and the Secretariat of the Governor-cum-Chancellor initiated the exercise for appointing Pro-VCs in all 14 state universities in Bihar only in June. Filling those positions will witness another deluge of applications.

The number of applicants for the apex academic positions in the universities swelled for the first time in 2013 when the appointment was made through a search committee by order of the Supreme Court, but it was still only around 1,200 for 11 universities -- much less than the over 6,000 applicants received this time.

As per amendments made to the Bihar State Universities Act, 1976 and the Patna University Act, 1976, in 2013 following the Supreme Court order that same year, a search committee comprising two members nominated by the chancellor and one by the state government is responsible for appointing the VC in every university.

The panel recommends three to five names for each university to the chancellor, who finalises the appointments following consultations with the chief minister.

The Chancellor’s office had issued notifications for the appointment of six VCs on May 20 and another four VCs on June 3 this year. The last date for submission of the online application in the prescribed format was June 30. Later, the notification inviting applications for the appointment of 14 Pro-VCs was also issued on June 3.