Patna, Nov. 16: Barely 48 hours after Patna University administration reconstituted its statutory committees, a section of the teachers today accused the vice-chancellor (VC) of being biased while selecting members of the panels.

The new panels, before it could start functioning, kicked up a controversy after the aggrieved teachers of the university charged VC Shambhu Nath Singh with selecting people close to him as members of the panels.

The teachers alleged that Singh’s decision to choose members of various committees was based on “personal bias”. Sudhakar Prasad Singh, a non-teaching employee with Patna Training College, is member of five committees out of the total 16 panels.

Sudhakar, who is also a Patna University syndicate associate, is member of some of the important committees, including approval, seniority and pay fixation, university building committee, purchase and sales and press.

Amar Nath Singh, a senior teacher of the postgraduate department of history, is a member of the promotion committee, approval seniority and pay-fixation, study leave, discipline.

Sources said both Sudhakar and Amar are close to the VC.

Similarly, another teacher from the varsity and dean, students’ welfare, P.K. Poddar has been appointed member in many committees.

The vice-chancellor formed the statutory committee to bring academic and administrative reforms. The people selected in the new panels have been appointed for three years.

Vice-chancellor, pro-vice-chancellor, registrar, proctor are ex officio members of the committee and the vice-chancellor is the chairman of the committee. According to norms, during the constitution of the committee, members were to be chosen from different fields of experience.

A senior teacher of the university, on condition of anonymity, said: “This is not the first time that VCs have appointed people close to him/her in statutory committees. Earlier, too, there have been instances where people close to the VCs were appointed in various committees.”

However, Patna University registrar Vibash Kumar Yadav disagrees that favouritism has been done in the appointments as persons who have been appointed as members of the committees are senior teachers having experience in various fields.

Yadav said: “People who are claiming that favouritism has been done in the appointments are those whose names do not figure in the members’ list.”