Patna, Aug. 5: The government today stepped up pressure on Raj Bhavan with the human resource development department sending a letter asking the governor to reconsider the appointments of the six vice-chancellors and four pro-vice-chancellors.
The missive comes a day after HRD minister P.K. Shahi said chief minister Nitish Kumar had given his approval to the report of the department which faults the governor — who is also the chancellor of universities — for not consulting the government over the appointments.
Principal secretary, HRD, Anjani Kumar Singh said: “The department has written a letter to Governor Devanand Konwar’s principal secretary, Afzal Amanullah, requesting Raj Bhavan to reconsider the appointments of VCs and pro-VCs in varsities.”
The letter says that no consultation was held between the state government and Raj Bhavan as required under Section 10(2) the State Universities Act of 1974 and Patna University Act, 1976. Hence, the missive argues, Raj Bhavan should reconsider these appointments.
The governor, according to some reports, has said that he did consult the chief minister on the subject of appointments. Though Nitish Kumar is yet to make a public statement on the issue, Shahi said yesterday that the fact that the chief minister had approved of the HRD report was an indication that he (Nitish) wasn’t kept in the loop.
Shahi had termed the appointments “illegal” and has said his department has already begun the process to curtail the financial powers of the VCs. Even deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi has publicly spoken out against the governor, saying the rules clearly lay down that the chancellor has to appoint VCs and pro-VCs in consultation with the state government.
The governor has so far not made any public comment on the issue.
This is not for the first time that the HRD department has written a letter to Raj Bhavan regarding appointment of VCs. During the appointment of VCs at Magadh and Veer Kuer Singh universities last year, the ministry had sent a similar letter to Raj Bhavan requesting it to reconsider the appointments of Arvind Kumar and Subhash Prasad Singh.
Raj Bhavan did not take action on the letter.
A teacher of SP Jain College, Ara, later challenged the appointments, alleging that the selection of Kumar and Sinha was made in violation of the provisions of the Bihar State University Act which says that the chancellor should make appointments in consultation with the government. On May 4, 2011, Patna High Court quashed these appointments on the ground that the chancellor did not consult the state government before making the appointments. The two VCs have moved Supreme Court against the order and the matter is pending there.
JD(U) national general secretary Shivanand Tiwari, who has been vocal in his criticism of the governor, agreed with Shahi that the appointments were illegal. “As these appointments have been made without consulting the state government, they are illegal. The HRD letter is a routine process to keep things on record so that in future Raj Bhavan doesn’t turn back and say that the government did not protest against these appointments,” he said from New Delhi.
Tiwari said he would meet Union home minister P. Chidambaram over the issue next week and seek central intervention.
