VCs of 5 private universities of Himachal Pradesh under lens

Tribune News Service

Bhanu P Lohumi

Shimla, June 10

Vice-Chancellors of five private universities are still under the scanner for not fulfilling the eligibility criteria while 20 per cent of the faculty in private universities are not qualified for the post. The appointment of ineligible persons as VCs and faculty has raised a question mark on the selection process.

“At present, the VCs of five universities (three in Solan and one each in Kangra and Una districts) are under the scanner while the post of the VC is vacant in one university, said Chairman of the Himachal Pradesh Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Commission (HPPEIRC) Maj General Atul Kaushik (Retd).

Affidavits were sought from Chancellors stating that the VCs fulfil UGC criteria of PhD and have 10 years’ experience as professor mandatory for the post. They will be called in person along with the details of educational qualification and experience by the three-member committee constituted to scrutinise the documents, he added.

The committee would also take note of the selection process followed for the recruitment from details of advertisement to selection process and the number of candidates appeared for the interview, sources in the commission said. The process for verification was delayed due to Covid.

As per survey, 265 out of the 2,000 faculty members in 12 private universities have been found ineligible for the posts. The make-shift arrangement of faculty (three months to two years) in most institutions is a major issue.

There are 17 private universities in Himachal and the government had appointed an administrator in Manav Bharti University, Solan, after a fake degree scam unfolded.

The process of removing the ineligible VCs started in November 2020. At that time, the scrutiny of bio-data and other documents of VCs had pointed out that 11 out of 17 VCs were either ineligible for the post or overage as per the UGC norms following which three VCs resigned while eight were told to step down.

Affidavits were sought from Chancellors

• Affidavits were sought from Chancellors stating that the VCs fulfil UGC criteria of PhD and have 10 years of experience as professor mandatory for the post
• They will be called in person along with the details by the three-member committee constituted to scrutinise the documents

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