Devvrat’s posting, UGC directive: Slew of rapid changes at Vidyapith

At the deemed-to-be University, students clean the campus, including the toilets. The institution offers all its courses in Gujarati medium with the thrust on rural development.

Mandaben Parikh, one of the eight trustees who resigned on October 17 last year, a day before the 68th annual convocation, told The Indian Express,

“The Vidyapith now is not in control of any of the trustees. There are invisible authorities (controlling it). Those who resigned and those who did not resign, everyone is discontented with the kind of developments taking place”.

Since his appointment, Governor Devvrat has been making “surprise visits” to the premises of the institute he heads, to expose its “dilapidated and miserable” condition and has carried out a cleanliness drive of the campus reportedly taking out several truck loads of garbage.

Citing “unethical use of power” for Chancellor’s appointment along with taking away the independence of the institute by the government stating that “it was neither spontaneous nor the unanimous decision of the Board of Trustees but under crass political pressure”, eight out of 24 trustees had resigned in October last year.

Devvrat succeeded Gandhian and founder of Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) Elaben Bhatt who had resigned from the chancellery on October 4,2022, and passed away on November 2, even as the institution was battling notices from the University Grants Commission (UGC) over the appointment of Khimani as VC asking “why the deemed-to-be University status…should not be withdrawn” and “the grants stopped”.

The Fact Finding Committee of UGC constituted separately had also found that Dr Rajendra Khimani was responsible for certain lapses in the administrative and financial functioning of the Gujarat Vidyapith as Registrar during the period from April 1, 2004 to April 30, 2019.

The UGC had issued directives to remove Dr Rajendra Khimani as Vice-Chancellor of Gujarat Vidyapith “with immediate effect”, observing “procedural lapses” in his appointment.

On January 2, in the first meeting of the Board of Trustees after Chancellor Devvrat took over, four new trustees—Gafurbhai Bilakhia, Rajshree Birla, Dilip Thaker and Harshad Patel—were appointed.

Patel is a former spokesperson of the BJP and is now vice-chancellor of the Indian Institute of Teachers Education (IITE), Gandhinagar and also holds the charge of Children’s University, Gandhinagar. However, this is not the first time the Vidyapith has had a political appointee. Thaker is former information commissioner.

However, the next meeting of the mandal or Board of Trustees is not scheduled yet, the appointment of new trustees is expected in the meeting.

“Nobody had expected this pace and series of events. Even the teaching faculty members are in a state of shock with all these sudden and unexpected decisions taken over at the institute in the last three-four months. There are also talks of a new Board of Management that is expected soon. Vidyapith will have a new chapter now,” said one of the faculty members on condition of anonymity.

After Khimani submitted his resignation on January 15, senior Professor Bharat Joshi (61) was appointed as the incharge VC with immediate effect.

The development came in the wake of Gujarat High Court’s order of September 2022 that gave eight weeks to the Vidyapith to “pass appropriate orders” based on the report by UGC that had sought his dismissal owing to observation of procedural lapses in his appointment and lapses by Khimani on the administrative and financial functioning during his tenure as the Registrar.

The extension sought by Vidyapith citing Elaben’s health was to end on February 17.