Patna, Aug. 1: Governor Devanand Konwar today appointed regular vice-chancellors and pro-vice-chancellors in six universities of the state, ending a seven-month impasse but potshots from the government continued with human resource development minister P.K. Shahi terming the appointments “illegal”.

“The appointments have been made without the mandatory consultation with the state government,” said Shahi, who has earlier too criticised the governor over the standoff.

Sambhu Nath Singh, who was holding the post of head of department at the School of Journalism and Media Studies at Indira Gandhi National Open University (Ignou), will be the next vice-chancellor of Patna University. He replaces Sudipto Adhikari who held the post of acting vice-chancellor since January this year.

The term of the vice-chancellors of six universities — Patna University, BRA Bihar University (Muzaffarpur), JP University (Chhapra), BN Mandal University (Madhepura), Kameshwar Singh Darbhanga Sanskrit University (Darbhanga) and Maulana Mazharul Haq Arabic and Persian University (Patna) — expired in January this year.

According to Governor House sources, the six VCs have been appointed after a consensus was reached between the governor and the government over the nominees.

Besides S.N. Singh, the other VCs appointed are Arun Kumar (BN Mandal University, Madhepura), Arvind Pandey (Kameshwar Singh Darbhanga Sanskrit University, Darbhanga), Ram Vinod Singh (JP University, Chhapra), Kumar Vimal (Bhim Rao Ambedkar Bihar University, Muzaffarpur) and Samsu Zoha (Maulana Mazharul Haq Arabic and Persian University, Patna).

Lal Keshwar Prasad Singh, the principal of Patna College, has been appointed pro-VC of Patna University. He is the husband of Usha Sinha, the JD(U) MLA from Hilsa in Nalanda district. The other pro-VCs appointed include P.K. Verma (BN Mandal University), S.K. Zabin (Maulana Mazharul Haq Arabic and Persian University), Kumaresh Singh (Bhim Rao Ambedkar Bihar University).

The appointment of VCs in state universities assumes importance as for the past seven months, the government and Raj Bhavan hit a roadblock on reaching a consensus.

On July 17, chief minister Nitish Kumar, along with HRD minister Shahi, met Governor Konwar and discussed various issues relating to regular appointments of VCs in these universities. The meeting was called as a few days earlier, deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi and HRD minister Shahi raised the issue of regular appointment of VCs in universities and pending bills at Governor House.

A senior HRD official said on condition of anonymity: “The names of VCs and pro-VCs were decided following a consensus reached between the chief minister and governor.”

The posts of all regular VCs have now been filled except those in Magadh University (Bodhgaya) and Veer Kuer Singh University (Ara).

The VCs of these universities were removed by the government after a Patna High Court order.