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Jharkhand: Governor, CM to jointly appoint VCs of state universities as Assembly passes Bill
Currently, the governor appoints VCs in the state universities, as the governor is the de facto chancellor. In August last year, the Hemant Soren government introduced the Jharkhand State University Bill 2025, which was passed during the monsoon session. The Bill proposed transferring the power to appoint VCs from the governor to the chief minister.
The Jharkhand Assembly on Tuesday cleared the Jharkhand State University Bill 2026, which provides for the Governor and the chief minister to jointly select and appoint vice-chancellors of the state universities.
Currently, the governor appoints VCs in the state universities, as the governor is the de facto chancellor. In August last year, the Hemant Soren government introduced the Jharkhand State University Bill 2025, which was passed during the monsoon session. The Bill proposed transferring the power to appoint VCs from the governor to the chief minister.
The governor sent it back to the state for reconsideration. On Tuesday, the government withdrew the 2025 Bill and introduced this new Bill, which the Assembly passed despite objections from the Opposition members who wanted it sent to the Select Committee.
Introducing the Bill in the House, higher education minister Sudivya Kumar said, “This August House passed the Jharkhand State University Bill 2025 on August 26, 2025. After the Bill was sent for the Governor’s assent, the government reassessed it. We are withdrawing the Bill and introducing a new Jharkhand State University Bill 2026 with few changes, including clerical mistakes.”
The 2026 Bill proposes that the governor and the chief minister jointly select, appoint and remove vice chancellors. As per the Bill, the two would institute a screening committee to select and recommend a panel of names for appointment. The two would then jointly select one name from the panel the committee provided.
“The chancellor and the chief minister would jointly select a name from the panel provided by the screening committee. The chancellor would subsequently appoint this person as vice chancellor. If they choose not to select anyone from the panel, they could institute a new screening committee and demand a new panel of names,”the Bill said.
Meanwhile, BJP legislators Raj Sinha and Amit Yadav moved amendments urging the treasury bench to send the Bill to a select committee, but the government turned them down.
“This is a 135-page Bill. We received a copy of this yesterday and it’s impossible to review them in a few hours and submit amendments. It also has clauses regarding the appointment and removal of vice-chancellors that weaken the governor’s power and establish the supremacy of the state government. It should be sent to a select committee for review,” said Sinha.
Minister Sudivya Kumar, however, turned down the suggestions. “There are minor changes in the Bill from the one we passed after detailed discussion last year. Moreover, any decision jointly made by the two people holding the state’s two top constitutional posts would always be beneficial in all terms. So there is no need to send the Bill to the Select Committee,”Kumar added.
The Bill also proposes establishing a University Service Commission to recruit all teaching and non-teaching staff in state universities. The BJP members moved amendments objecting to the clause that a bureaucrat would head the commission as its chairman. Sinha argued that an academician of repute instead of a bureaucrat, should chair the body, but the government rejected this.
