In long tussle with Bihar govt over varsities, Governor Arlekar wins another round

For  the past three months, the Bihar government led by Nitish Kumar and Governor Arlekar have been in a constant conflict, ever since the state BJP raised the demand of removal of Additional Chief Secretary, Education, K K Pathak.

While Nitish Kumar Wednesday called on Arlekar, who as Governor is the de facto Chancellor of all state universities, Raj Bhavan sources said the matter is not likely to be easily resolved, as the “state government has been trying to encroach upon the domain of the Chancellor”.

A Raj Bhavan source said that the roles of the Chancellor and the state Education Department are clearly specified under provisions of the Bihar State Universities Act and Patna University Act, and a set of directives issued by the Supreme Court in 2013. “A three-member search committee, in which there are two nominees of the Chancellor and one of the state government, finalises the appointment of all VCs,” the source pointed out, adding that it is the Chancellor’s secretariat that carries out the entire process, right from putting out advertisements for the position, to appointing them.

BJP Rajya Sabha MP and former deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi said: “Right from opposing the four-year degree course proposal, to freezing the salary of the BRABU VC, and now the separate advertisement for VC posts, the state government has been on a collision course with Raj Bhavan. The CM should immediately remove officials responsible for carrying out orders and circulars undermining the authority of Raj Bhavan.” He added that the state government should rein in the Additional Chief Secretary Pathak.

Neeraj Kumar, the chief spokesperson of the JD(U) and an MLC, denied any confrontation. “Soon after the CM met the Governor, Raj Bhavan said the two had discussed ways to improve higher education in the state,” Kumar said.

A BRABU professor laid the blame at the state government’s door. “By taking proactive steps, like visiting universities, attending Senate meetings, and more importantly, implementing the four-year degree course at the graduation level, the current Governor has made the state government nervous. Higher education has been the most ignored department during Nitish Kumar’s tenure. The Governor is now trying to stem the rot. Using its bureaucracy, the state government has engaged in a confrontation, to cling to power in matters of the universities,” the professor said.

However, a Bihar Education Department official said it was wrong to argue that the department had no rights. “The state government has the right to look into matters of financial irregularities, for example. In the case of BRABU, we had received information of financial bungling, and stayed the salaries of the VC and the pro-VC, till an audit was completed.”

For the moment, the Governor appears to be ahead, having had his say in each of the confrontations over university matters so far. But by the looks of it, the CM, who is a leading light in the Opposition INDIA alliance going into the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, is not going to let the matter rest. A JD(U) leader said, “The idea is to tell Raj Bhavan that the state government has to be taken into confidence over matters of higher education. In no way does the state government want to be the villain in the eyes of the public.”

Not just Bihar, several Opposition-ruled states are seeing similar confrontations between governors and state governments over appointment of VCs. This includes Kerala, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Punjab.