Odisha vice-chancellors need governor’s nod for foreign visit, says Raj Bhavan

The fresh instructions by Odisha governor Ganeshi Lal’s office came after a senior professor was cleared to travel to the US in May though he was due to retire in June.

BHUBANESWAR: Odisha governor Ganeshi Lal’s office has told vice-chancellors of all state-run universities and top officials to seek permission from the governor’s office before any official or private visit to foreign countries.

Governor’s secretary Saswat Mishra sent out the communication to vice-chancellors of Odisha’s 19 state-run universities (Twitter/GovernorOdisha)

In a letter to vice-chancellors of the state-run universities, the governor’s secretary Saswat Mishra said foreign visits should be allowed only when it is essentially required and is truly in the interest of the students in particular and the university in general.

“Things which can be done through virtual meeting/conference or through digital communication like e-mail, etc. should not be proposed to be done by foreign visit. Irrespective of whether the proposed visit is for official purpose or private purpose, vice-chancellors would require a prior written permission of the chancellor to go on foreign visit. As preparation for foreign visit takes a long time, request for prior permission of chancellor should be sent well in advance,” Mishra said in his letter.

HT has reviewed a copy of the letter.

Mishra said in the letter that no university employee with less than two years of service would be allowed to go on a foreign visit except with prior written permission of the chancellor.

“An instance recently came to the notice of the chancellor wherein a senior professor of a state public university, going to retire on June 30 had been allowed by the vice-chancellor for an official visit to USA in May 2022. The proposed visit was, however, cancelled at the last moment on the direction of the chancellor. To avoid the occurrence of such unpleasant situation in future, a guideline is being prescribed to regulate foreign visit of university vice-chancellors and employees of all state public universities of Odisha,” it said.

The vice-chancellors will be authorised to permit foreign visits of university employees (teaching and non-teaching staff). But the vice-chancellor, while giving permission should send a copy of the permission order/letter, indicating how the university will benefit from the visit.