LN Bhagat, RU vice chancellor. (Hardeep Singh )

The newly appointed Ranchi University vice chancellor has already set a goal — what he calls educational social responsibility — during his term.

“You may have heard about corporate social responsibility. Out here, I will show how educational social responsibility is achieved. It’s a relatively new term but its sole purpose is to link education with sustainable employability,” L.N. Bhagat told The Telegraph.

The former director of ISM Pundag has returned to Ranchi University after 2008. Between 2004-08, he was the registrar here.

Asked about his comeback, pat comes the reply: “In my prior stint, my job was to simply obey my boss (vice chancellor). But now, I am in the driving seat and hope to steer the fortunes of the university to the next level.”

High on his priority list are solving problems of retired teachers, lending support to present employees, both teachers and non-teaching staff, and improving the quality of education through exchange programmes.

Is he aware of the challenges that plague the university? Even a top-of-the-mind laundry list of woes is fairly formidable — lack of quality teachers, bad infrastructure and administrative hassles.

Even the e-learning centre doesn’t function most of the time because either the Internet is down or computers don’t work or there is a power cut.

“An able administrator doesn’t look for problems but for solutions. The first thing I’m planning to do is segregate departments. For example, MBA should be different from commerce, MCA more specialised than general computer studies, journalism course different from political science or literature,” he said.

He also disclosed he would concentrate his “energies on honing the Ranchi University management department”.

“Yes, I am close to this subject,” smiled the subject matter expert in economics. “And I will stress on lifestyle management and soft skills across all disciplines,” he added.

How will he address the yawning disparity between city and rural colleges?

“See, if we send good teachers to the hinterland and host regular workshops and seminars, rural students won’t lag behind,” he said.