Rajendra Prasad Mishra

Muzaffarpur, Sept. 22: Former acting vice-chancellor (VC) of Babasaheb Bhim Rao Ambedkar Bihar University Rajendra Prasad Mishra has been showcaused for drawing the salary of a full-fledged VC for six months.

Governor-cum-chancellor of universities in the state Devanand Konwar had made the senior dean of faculty a temporary vice-chancellor to officiate the VC’s office, following Dr Raj Dev Prasad Singh’s retirement on January 25 this year. Mishra has also come under the scanner for taking wrong decisions, including starting new courses in 16 constituent colleges and opening vocational courses in affiliated and constituent colleges on a big scale under the university.

Pro-vice-chancellor of the university Padmasha Jha told The Telegraph that Dr Mishra has introduced vocational and new courses and is drawing a full-fledged VC’s salary without the consultation of the office of governor and the state government. Thus, Mishra indulged in omission and commission by permitting college principals to charge fees from the students in the name of introducing new courses and vocational courses. These courses have been opened up on under self-financing scheme and also without getting the necessary consent of the governor and the state government.

The pro-VC has served a showcause notice on Mishra and finance officer Jai Narayan Prasad and finance advisor H.L. Kushmakar in this connection. The finance officer and the finance advisor have been asked to reply in two days on which ground the acting VC has been paid salary of a full-fledged VC.

The pro-VC said the university would initiate a process to recover the excess money from the former VC. Jha cited that the governor has appointed him on temporary arrangement as he was the senior dean of faculty in the university. The former VC has transgressed his limit without seeking permission of the office concerned and he relished to draw salary of the full-fledged VC, the pro-VC said.

Former acting vice-chancellor Rajendra Prasad had introduced new courses under self-financing scheme in 16 constituent colleges, including Langat Singh College, Ram Dayalu Singh College and several others, situated in Hajipur, Motihari, Bettiah, Narkatiyaganj, Bagaha and Sitamarhi districts under the university. The principals of the colleges had prevailed upon the university to introduce teaching of new courses, including commerce, geography, geology, Persian, chemistry and physics, at the graduation-level. The students have been charged admission and tuition fees arbitrarily to impart them teaching under self-financing scheme. New vice-chancellor Bimal Prasad stopped the new courses except commerce and revised and lessened the fee structure.

The university has also acted tough on the principals of the colleges who ran vocational courses. The academic council of the university has stayed away to grant permission to these vocational courses opened up in a mushroomed way. Thus, the future of the students who enrolled in these courses hangs in the balance.