Muzaffarpur, Feb. 3: Education minister P.K. Shahi blamed the “whimsical functioning” of varsity officials and vice-chancellors for the deteriorating condition of higher education in the state.

Shahi said: “Higher education in the state is in a shambles and the government is finding itself helpless in purging the malaise prevailing in the system.”

The minister’s criticism came during his visit to Lalit Narayan Mishra College of Business Management in Muzaffarpur yesterday on the 90th birth anniversary of former Union minister Lalit Narayan Mishra.

Speaking to reporters, the minister said: “The state government is trying to streamline the functioning of the universities but it has received a setback because of the whimsical functioning of vice-chancellors and other officers,” said Shahi, adding that the government intended to appoint able and upright academics as vice-chancellors but the Raj Bhavan played spoilsport.

Shahi expressed surprise at the plethora of complaints against the vice-chancellor of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar Bihar University, Muzaffarpur, Bimal Kumar.

A delegation of teachers and senators met the education minister last evening at the circuit house with their complaints against Kumar’s alleged financial irregularities.

Kumar was recently entrusted the additional charge of the vice-chancellor of Tilka Manjhi University, Bhagalpur, by the Raj Bhavan.

At the birth anniversary celebrations of Mishra, Shahi, however, expressed confidence that the state government, in recent times, has worked to improve primary and secondary education. Coming down heavily on the Centre, Shahi said it has failed to give requisite funds under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.

Former chief minister Jagannath Mishra, economist N.K. Choudhary and the director of Lalit Narayan Mishra College of Business Management, Anirudh Thakur, also spoke on the occasion.