Outgoing Guv appoints new V-C for MU

The last regular V-C of MU, Rajendra Prasad, had to surrender earlier this month after being denied bail.

Days before Bihar Governor Phagu Chouhan leaves the state for Meghalaya for his new gubernatorial assignment, the Raj Bhawan in Patna on Monday appointed AN College principal Shashi Pratap Shahi as vice chancellor of the troubled Magadh University (MU), Bodh Gaya, and Braj Raj Kumar Sinha of the department of geography at Benaras Hindu University (BHU) as pro-vice chancellor, according to a notification issued late Monday evening.

Outgoing Bihar Governor Phagu Chouhan. (PTI)

Both the new incumbents will have a tenure of three years.

The two positions in MU had remained vacant for a long time.

The last regular VC of MU, Rajendra Prasad, had to surrender earlier this month after being denied bail. He had resigned in May after remaining on medical leave for over six months and evading arrest following raids at his residence in Gorakhpur in UP and Bodh Gaya in a corruption case.

Since then, the university’s additional charge was given to VCs of other universities. Currently, Nalanda Open University vice chancellor KC Sinha holds the additional charge of MU.

Prasad was appointed MU vice chancellor in September 2019.

For Shahi, the main challenge will be to streamline the functioning of MU and its exam calendar, which is delayed by over three years.