Appointment of new VCs for KU, JU | All eyes on Govt
Appointment of new VCs for KU, JU | All eyes on Govt
Srinagar, Aug 03 :
All eyes are on the J&K government to appoint the new Vice Chancellors for the University of Kashmir (KU) and Jammu University (JU) as their three-year tenure comes to an end.
The incumbent VC KU, Prof Talat Ahmad and VC JU Manoj Kumar Dhar were appointed as the vice chancellors in July and August 2018.
However, after the abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019, the Government of India made changes in the tenure of the VCs after some amendments were made in the acts of the nine universities functioning in J&K.
The amendments were made in the wake of implementation of the J&K Re-organisation -Adaptation of State Laws Order, 2020 issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Department of J&K and Ladakh Affairs on March 31, 2020.
The government made amendments in the tenure of the VCs of the universities which was reduced from five years to three years.
As per the amendment act, the tenure of the Vice Chancellor of the Cluster University (CU) of Srinagar and Jammu was reduced from five years to three years.
It was followed by the constitution of the search committee to find a panel of names for the appointment of new VCs for CU Srinagar and Jammu.
Few months later, the search committee was also constituted for the appointment of a new Vice Chancellor for Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University (BGSBU), Rajouri.
However, till the time search committee was constituted, the VC completed his five-year tenure.
In the past, a Vice-Chancellor was appointed for a period of three years but the then Peoples Democratic Party-led coalition government passed a legislation and increased the tenure of the VC to a period of five years.
This was again reduced to three years by the J&K government after the J&K Reorganisation Act became applicable in J&K.
As per the amendments made in the University Act, the tenure of the VC of KU and JU has been reduced from five years to three years.
With this, the VC JU completed his three-year term in July this year while the VC KU would complete his three-year tenure on August 7.
“ But no search committee has been constituted to appoint the new VCs for both the universities. It seems the law doesn’t apply to them,” a top official in the civil secretariat said.
A top source in JU said that a few months ago, JU VC Manoj Dhar was conveyed through a letter that his tenure would only be for three years.
However, no verbal or formal communication has been sent to the KU VC, a top official said.
“ There is no clarity whether his tenure will be for three years or would he be asked to continue. The confusion will get clear after August 7,” the official said.
