Chancellors’ role in V-C selection specified in 2010, 2018 regulations: Pradhan hits back at Kharge

“As far as the discharge of responsibilities of the Chancellor by the (state) Governors is concerned, this is a practice that has been followed even before the country’s Independence,” Pradhan said, referring to his response to Kharge as a set of “important facts for those who repeatedly sell lies”.

Pradhan said the structure of the selection committee in the 2025 regulations is a form of what was in the regulations of 2010. “In this, a selection committee has been mentioned for the appointment of teachers and other academic staff and to maintain high standards. Its members include a nominee of the Chancellor/Visitor, a nominee of the UGC Chairman, and a nominee of the university’s syndicate/executive council/board of management,” Pradhan wrote in a post on X.

This was the composition of the selection committee for the V-C as mentioned in the 2010 regulations. Both the 2018 and 2018 regulations, the last one issued before the 2025 draft, did not specify the composition of the selection committee that would choose a set of prospective V-C candidates from which the Chancellor would appoint one.

The 2025 draft regulations, which were released last week to seek suggestions, said the Chancellor/Visitor would constitute the selection committee.

In a post on X, Kharge said last week that the 2025 regulations give control to the Governor in the appointment of V-Cs and allow non-academics to be appointed to the post. “This is an attack on federalism and the rights of the states. The BJP-RSS wants only Sangh parivar-associated V-Cs to be appointed,” he wrote.

“The UGC was giving financial assistance to universities, and the government was funding the UGC. But now the Modi government’s HEFA (Higher Education Financing Agency) has taken over… This compels colleges and universities to offer more self-financed courses, and SC/ST/OBC/EWS students will face financial difficulties… The UGC’s allotment in the budget has been cut by 61%,” Kharge said.

Kharge’s post on Friday came after Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin objected to the draft regulations on the grounds that they “undermine federalism”.

Responding to Kharge’s comment that the “BJP-RSS is constantly attacking higher education in the country”, Pradhan wrote on Monday: “The Congress, which kept the country’s education system corrupt and in bad shape for decades, still has the same mentality. The Congress can never accept that the youth of the country should be educated and the country should develop.”

“The Congress party has a problem with the National Education Policy which has been wholeheartedly accepted by all sections of the country, including the youth, because it has elements of Indianness. This is the same party which weakened the Indian education system and worked to erase our glorious cultural heritage from the textbooks. Therefore, without understanding the facts, the Congress party should change its policy of criticising just for the sake of criticism and stop worrying about one family and worry about the youth of the country,” Pradhan posted on X.