Higher education crisis unresolved

PATNA: Even as chief minister Nitish Kumar held a detailed discussion with governor-cum-chancellor Devanand Konwar on university affairs at Raj Bhavan on Friday evening, nothing positive emerged. The talks, reportedly held in a cordial atmosphere, did not cut much ice to allow resolution of the deepening crisis in the field of higher education in Bihar.

It is learnt that the chancellor had made up his mind to appoint regular vice-chancellors in at least four universities, namely B R A Bihar, B N Mandal, K S D Sanskrit and Maulana Mazharul Haq Arabic and Persian universities in consultation with the chief minister. But, a consensus could not emerge on the names of persons to be appointed as VCs.

So far as the appointment of VCs in Magadh and Veer Kunwar Singh universities is concerned, the chancellor is awaiting the verdict of the Supreme Court. The VCs of both the universities have moved the apex court challenging the decision of Patna High Court quashing their appointment. As both the chancellor and the chief minister will be out of state for some days, any decision in the matter will be taken only after their return. It means that nothing is going to happen before June 20 when the chancellor is expected to return, said Raj Bhavan sources.

Though the CM is also learnt to have drawn the attention of the chancellor towards the difficulties being faced in proper governance of the universities owing to inordinate delay in according his nod to the various bills which were recently returned to the state government with certain objections, the chancellor did not evince any interest in the matter. Insiders said that the governor is in no mood to give his assent to the university bills which seek curtailment of his own powers of appointing VCs. He is also reportedly not in favour of handing over the task of university appointments to the Bihar State University Service Commission. The proposed university service commission bill is supposed to restore the old practice of making university appointments on state level instead of the university level.

Federation of University Teachers' Associations of Bihar working president K B Sinha and general secretary Sanjay Kumar Singh said that the university selection committees consisted of one nominee each of the chancellor and the state government besides three subject experts not connected with university, and the head of the department of the subject concerned as members with the vice-chancellor as the chairman. Even then, there are allegations of irregularities in selection of college principals and some cases relating to these are still pending in Patna High Court. Surprisingly, these selection committees were constituted following complaints of large-scale irregularities in teachers' appointments by the state-level panel in 1996 and 2003.

Past experiences of both the commission and the selection committees lead to only one conclusion - that the fault does not lie with committee or commission, but in selection of persons of inferior merit and dubious background as members and chairman of these panels, they said.