Arjun Singh govt sacks three vice-chancellors, takes over administration of universities

Three down, how many more to go? This is what academics wants to know as the Arjun Singh Government has sacked three vice-chancellors over the past year and taken over the administration of these universities under the MP Universities Act of 1973. The latest to go was Saugar University's D.P. Jatar, who got his marching orders after student violence erupted at a function in which Singh was the chief guest.Out of the state's college strength of 200,000 students in 10 universities - including a university each for agriculture and music - the three affected institutions have a total of 74,000 students in 137 colleges. These dismissals are all the more controversial because all three vice-chancellors were appointed during the Janata regime. "An unfortunate coincidence," says Singh, justifying government action. In the state's history, the only university to be so taken over by the state Government was the one at Jabalpur. Argues Bhopal University's former vice-chancellor, Ravi Prakash: "What kind of respect can vice-chancellors command if they are dismissed in such a manner?"Their anxiety is understandable. When the state takes over the administration of the university under the Act, power is centralised in the hands of the new appointee since the Executive Council, the Academic Council and the University Court are automatically dismissed. The initial takeover is for a period of one year which can be extended for a maximum of three years.Arjun Singh (left) and Jatar: Marching ordersA week after the violence, in the headquarters of the University, situated on a magnificent hilltop outside Sagar, 185 km from Bhopal, all was quiet. Classes had been suspended for three weeks. But if Singh was out to curb mismanagement and student indiscipline, he got more than a handful of evidence when he went to Sagar to join the celebrations on the 112th birth anniversary of Hari Singh Gaur, the founder vice-chancellor, Bharatiya Janata Party and Lok Dal student activists - as well as some from a Congress(I) faction - tried to shout down Singh. When Jatar got up from his seat on the dais, a student leader occupied it. Stones were pelted, there was a lathi-charge and finally the police opened fire. Nine students were injured and more than 60 arrested.Stern Measures: If it was indiscipline at Sagar, Ujjain's Vikram University had that combined with prospects of bankruptcy under. P.N. Kawtekar, now head of the department of Sanskrit in Bhopal University. To show that it meant business, the Government appointed in January this year K.K. Dave, a stern former inspector general of police as vice-chancellor, probably the first time in the country that a police officer was head of a university. But it worked. Dave took swift action against erring students, tightened up the administration and managed to get the university out of the red.In Rewa's Awadesh Pratap Singh University, the end came for S.K.Bhandari again because of financial laxity. Salary scales of employees were summarily hiked and in another case those of academics on probation suddenly increased heftily. In a state that is always tottering on the edge of a financial crisis, the concern was understandable.While the stiff action has invited comment - one student of Vikram wryly calls it "a police state" - Singh says: "No one can accuse me of being anti-student but I do not support the idea of their getting away with anything." Students in the state, as elsewhere, pampered into arrogance and unruliness by political bosses over the years, could do with a large dose of sternness.Published By: AtMigration Published On: Oct 23, 2013 11:56 IST--- ENDS ---

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Arjun Singh govt sacks three vice-chancellors, takes over administration of universities

Three down, how many more to go? This is what academics wants to know as the Arjun Singh Government has sacked three vice-chancellors over the past year and taken over the administration of these universities under the MP Universities Act of 1973.

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