Govt sits on Mattoo appointment as V-C

The letters have been sent to President Pratibha Patil by Jammu Joint Students Federation,Peoples Revolutionary Movement,Joint Action Committee of Students and Scholars,Jammu Central University Morcha,Panthers Party and Shri Ram Sena,among others.

The President,as Visitor to Central universities,gives the final approval to the appointment of a candidate as V-C. The candidate is selected by a search-cum-selection committee.

The President usually does not spend much time in giving its approval,but Mattoo8217;s case has hung on. Rashtrapati Bhawan had reportedly sent the letters to the HRD Ministry for its views. In its reply,the ministry said Mattoo8217;s name was selected by a committee of experts after due deliberations and so it could not vouch for it in any way. On Mattoo not being a true Jammuite,the ministry has pointed out that Central Universities Act,2009 clearly states that domicile cannot be an issue in the selection of a V-C. Mattoo,incidentally,was born in Srinagar.

Mattoos academic credentials can hardly be questioned. He is Professor of International Politics at New Delhi8217;s Jawaharlal Nehru University,member of the National Knowledge Commission,member of the Monitoring Committee of French Research Institutes in India and Fellow of the 21st Century Trust. He is on the Executive Committee of the Pugwash India Society.

Mattoo has served as the youngest V-C of Jammu University and has been member of the National Security Advisory Board,Foreign and Commonwealth Office Scholar at the University of Oxford,Visiting Professor at the University of Notre Dame,Paris,and Center for International Security and Cooperation,Stanford University.

It is his association with Pugwash Society,which is considered as being slightly harsh on India,that his critics attack him for the most. They also allege that his tenure as Jammu University V-C was unimpressive,marked by irregular appointments,financial irregularities and so on.