Syed Shemul Parvez :
There are about 107 operational private universities in the country; of them more than half universities have vacancies for the post of Vice-Chancellors (VCs), pro Vice-Chancellors as well as Treasurers.
The University Grants Commission (UGC) has recently released a list also stating that some universities are putting students at risk by carrying out unauthorized activities.
According to UGC sources, there are no VCs in 71 private universities. There are also no pro vice-chancellors in 21 university where there are no treasurers in 53 universities and even no VC, pro-VC as well as Treasurers in 19 private operational universities.
Professor Biswajit Chandra, member of the UGC said, we have already warned the universities for appointing VCs, pro-VCs and treasurers. But they didn’t care. Without VC none can sign over the student’s certificates.
Besides, without VC, Pro VC and Treasurers none have valid permission to contact with UGC, Professor Biswajit said.
There are some private universities those finance affairs are directly controlled by the so-called Trustee Board. Even there are also several allegations of money laundering.
Some universities don’t follow the rules of UGC in appointing the VCs, pro VCs and treasurers, he added.
The Private University Act-2010 makes it mandatory for a university to recommend names to the President, also the Chancellor of public and private universities, to pick one for the post of VC.
The law does not cover the appointments of acting VC, pro-VC and Treasurer.
According to UGC officials, the universities are allowed to run by acting VCs only when the VC’s tenure expires. On expiry of the VC’s tenure, a university makes a teacher acting VC for an interim period until the next VC is appointed.
Getting the chancellor’s approval through the Education Ministry for the appointment of a VC should not take more than a month, said an UGC official.
Since the law does not stipulate any specific time limit, some universities take advantage of it and keep the acting VCs in their posts for a longer period of time, while others simply do not follow any rules, added the official. Educationists and private university teachers said the Board of Trustees, in many cases, is reluctant to appoint Vice-Chancellor and pro-vice-chancellor to make sure it has control over the university administration. This has been going on for too long with the education ministry and the UGC allegedly showing indifference. Experts said it is harmful both for the students and the universities.
The latest UGC report shows the situation has worsened recently.
