E-Paper
Govt appoints JNU V-C as UGC chairman
In a notification, the Union ministry of education said M Jagadesh Kumar has been appointed for five years from the date of assuming charge or until he turns 65 or till further orders, whichever is the earliest.
Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) vice-chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar was on Friday appointed as the chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC), the higher education regulator in the country.
In a notification, the Union ministry of education said Kumar has been appointed for five years from the date of assuming charge or until he turns 65 or till further orders, whichever is the earliest.
Kumar’s appointment comes at a time when several changes are being made in the higher education sector with the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. The changes are being monitored by the UGC. The post of the UGC chairperson fell vacant on December 7 last year, when DP Singh resigned from the post upon turning 65.
“The central government appoints professor Mamidal Jagadesh Kumar, vice chancellor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, to the post of chairman, University Grants Commission in level 17 of the pay matrix, for a period of five years from the date of his assumption of charge of the post or until he attains the age of 65 years or until further orders, whichever is the earliest,” the notification stated.
Hailing from Mamidala village in Telangana’s Nalgonda district, 60-year-old Kumar holds a masters degree and a PhD from IIT-Madras. He also completed his post-doctoral research at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Waterloo, at Ontario, Canada.
He was a professor at the department of Electrical Engineering at IIT-Delhi before being appointed as the JNU vice-chancellor in January 2016. He continued teaching at IIT-Delhi while serving as the JNU VC.
“As Chairman, UGC, this is a great opportunity for me to work for the young minds of our country in Higher Educational Institutes. My immediate focus is going to be speedy implementation of National Education Policy, enabling research and innovation ecosystem in HEIs and making higher education more inclusive and accessible using technology,” Kumar said in a statement.
“I look forward to working with students, teachers and heads of higher educational institutions across the country,” he added.
Kumar’s tenure as the vice-chancellor coincided with the 2016 sedition charges against university’s student leaders for allegedly shouting anti-India slogans, protests against hostel fee increase, and an attack on campus by a masked mob in January 2020, which left several students and teachers injured.
Kumar remained at loggerheads with students’ and teachers’ unions over issues such as alleged seat cuts in research courses, the manner in which meetings of statutory bodies were conducted, and alleged irregularities in faculty appointments.
Although his term as JNU VC ended on January 26 last year, the ministry of education extended his term until his successor was appointed. According to ministry officials, the appointment process for new JNU VC is still underway.
Officials at the JNU said Kumar will be relieved from his duties after a new VC is appointed. “We are expecting that the name of the new JNU VC will soon be announced. Till then, Jagadesh Kumar will continue holding the post,” said a JNU official.
A senior official at the ministry of education also said Kumar “will continue till he is relieved from JNU”.
