Birsa Agricultural University, Kanke

A three-member Veterinary Council of India (VCI) team today arrived at BAU, Ranchi, to review its ban, clamped in 2013-14 academic year, on admissions to the bachelor course at Ranchi College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, which operates under the state varsity.

The VCI had barred admissions to the four-year undergraduate veterinary science stream when it found BAU had an alarming shortfall of teachers.

Of the 124 sanctioned teaching posts at Ranchi College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, 100 are vacant. The ban continued for the 2014-15 academic year as the situation stayed the same.

The VCI review team comprised Anand Agricultural University (Anand, Gujarat) principal-cum-dean J.V. Solanki; Madras Veterinary College (Chennai, Tamil Nadu) director in veterinary clinical medicine, ethics and jurisprudence A.P. Nambi and dean of Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology (Pantnagar, Uttarakhand) Ishwar Singh.

R.L. Prasad, officiating dean of the veterinary college under BAU, told The Telegraph that the visiting team surveyed the campus, and visited departments and laboratories along with piggery, poultry and dairy farms.

Now, BAU needs to impress on the visiting VCI team that Raj Bhavan, by lifting the recruitment ban, has paved the way for teachers to be appointed by the Jharkhand Public Service Commission. One ban gone would prod another to lift, varsity officials hope.

Prasad claimed that BAU, which had adequate infrastructure criteria, had reason to hope. “We are hopeful because on June 18, Raj Bhavan lifted the ban on appointments,” he said.

Nearly three years ago, on August 4, 2011, Raj Bhavan clamped a blanket ban on recruitment in BAU following allegations of irregular appointment of 135 non-teaching personnel at the varsity. In the years that followed, as existing faculty members kept retiring, vacancies kept burgeoning as neither BAU nor the state government made fresh appointments.

Prasad added the VCI team would carry inspections at BAU and meet officials over the next two days.

“On June 26, the three members will submit individual reports to the VCI. The council will see the reports before taking a final call,” Prasad said.