By Prof Lakhon Kma
I have gone through 48-pages of the Principal Act-Captain Williamson Sangma Technical University Act, 2011 (Act No. 17 of 2011), published in the Gazette of Meghalaya Extraordinary, Part-IV, 17th October, 2011 and also gone through the 3-page-Captain Williamson Sangma Technical (Amendment) Act, 2023 (Act No. 12 of 2023) published in the Gazette of Meghalaya Extraordinary, Part-IV, 19th October, 2023 which is available in the public domain.
It says, “The Vice-Chancellor of the University:
Section 14 (7) The Chancellor shall have the powers to appoint and remove the Vice-Chancellor as approved by the Board of Governors and any other powers as may be conferred on him/her by this Act and Statute made hereunder…
Section 15. (1) The Vice-Chancellor shall be appointed on such term and conditions as approved by the board of Governors for a term of four years by the Chancellor.
(2) The Vice-Chancellor shall be appointed by the Chancellor from a panel of three persons recommended by the Board of Governors and shall hold office for a term of four years…..”
What is surprising is that the eligibility criteria for the appointment of the VC is nowhere visible in both the Acts and obviously should be there in the ‘Statutes’ enacted under the Act which is not available in public domain but the aforesaid Act says and I quote-
“Chapter 5-Statutes and Rules
Statues-Section 27. Subject to the provisions of this Act, the statutes may provide for any matter relating to the University and staff, as given below:-
(a) The constitution, power and function of the authorities and other bodies of the University not specified in the Act, as may be constituted from time to time;
(b) The mode of recruitment and the conditions of the service of the ‘other officers’, teachers and employees of the University…
However, it is intriguing to observe that out of the 12 matters relating to the University and staff under the above section, none of the provisions specifically mentioned the eligibility criteria for appointment of the VC and only mentioned ‘other officers in Section 27(b) above’. As per the Act-Chapter 3, Officers of the University
Section 12. The following shall be the officers of the university:
(a) The Chancellor;
(b) The Vice-Chancellor;
(c) The Registrar;
(d) The Finance Officer; and
(e) Such other officers as may be declared by the Act or Statute to be officers of the University.
I believe that the State Government has clear-cut statutory provisions/eligibility criteria for any person to be appointed as a VC. The UGC Regulation 2018 clearly states as under:
“Section 7.3. Vice Chancellor:
i. A person possessing the highest level of competence, integrity, morals and institutional commitment is to be appointed as Vice-Chancellor. The person to be appointed as a Vice-Chancellor should be a distinguished academician, with a minimum of ‘ten years’ of experience as Professor in a University or ‘ten years’ of experience in a reputed research and /or academic administrative organisation with proof of having demonstrated academic leadership.
ii. The selection for the post of Vice-Chancellor should be through proper identification by a Panel of 3-5 persons by a Search-cum-Selection-Committee, through a public notification or nomination or a talent search process or a combination thereof. The members of such Search-cum-Selection Committee shall be persons’ of eminence in the sphere of higher education and shall not be connected in any manner with the University concerned or its colleges. While preparing the panel, the Search cum-Selection Committee shall give proper weightage to the academic excellence, exposure to the higher education system in the country and abroad, and adequate experience in academic and administrative governance, to be given in writing along with the panel to be submitted to the Visitor/Chancellor. One member of the Search cum-Selection Committee shall be nominated by the Chairman, University Grants Commission, for selection of Vice Chancellors of State, Private and Deemed to be Universities.
iii. The Visitor/Chancellor shall appoint the Vice Chancellor out of the Panel of names recommended by the Search-cum-Selection Committee.”
The adherence to the UGC Regulation 2018 is not optional; even for the Selection of Principals in the affiliated colleges-deficit or even private colleges, the above regulation has to be strictly adhered to. In light of this and the appointment of Dr. Vasanthi Vijayakumar, former Associate Professor, Department of History at Madras Christian College Tambaram Chennai and retired Principal of C.S.I. Ewart Women’s Christian College, Melarosapuram, Chengalpattu as the VC of the Captain Williamson Sangma State University, Meghalaya, the question is: Are all Associate Professors/HoDs/Principals eligible to become VCs even if they are not Professors? Certainly there is no precedence in the last few decades where a person is appointed as a VC of any State or Central University who is an Associate Professor and Not a ‘Professor with ten years of Professorship’ since the UGC Regulations came into being which makes it compulsory that a candidate for vice chancellorship should be a Professor for at least 10 years. The State government must clarify this so that all Associate Professors/Principals/HoDs in universities and colleges in our State will be aware that they can also one day become the VC of the State University no matter what the UGC Regulations says.
It is interesting because the Captain Williamson Sangma State University Act also states as under:
“University to be subject to standards of UGC.
Section 52. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act, the establishment maintenance of standards and any other matter concerning private universities established under this Act shall be as per the provision of UGC (Establishment and Maintenance of Standards in Private Universities) Regulations, 2003 as amended from time to time and any other regulation or direction as may be issued by the UGC and the State Government from time to time.”
Can the State government dilute the provisions of UGC Regulation 2018 on the eligibility criteria for VC’s appointment and still conform to UGC standards? Folks, controversy on the appointment of the VC is the last thing expected for the 1st State University of Meghalaya. Let the first State University not start on a wrong footing, as the saying goes ‘Well begun is half done.’
(The author teaches at NEHU )