After the appointment of two Vice-Chancellors of state universities by Chhattisgarh Governor recently, the Congress-run state government is planning to amend the appointment rules through legislation in which the Governor’s role will be ‘nullified’.
On Monday, Governor Anusuiya Uikey, appointed Baldev Bhai Sharma, the vice-chancellor of Kushabhau Thakre University and on the same day Vans Gopal Singh was re-appointed as vice-chancellor of Pandit Sundarlal Sharma Open University, Bilaspur.
Sharma was editor of RSS’s mouthpiece ‘Panchjanya’ and was also a biographer of former RSS sarsanghchalak K S Sudarashan, while Singh is close to the BJP.
Reacting over the appointments, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Tuesday said, “The Governor has done her job and now the government will do its job.”
As per officials close to the CM, recommendations from the government were made for the post of chancellors but it was considered by the Governor.
“We have made suggestions for both the universities, but RSS-leaning people were made as vice-chancellors. This was because the ‘rules of appointment’, which were made by the BJP government, provide the Governor an upper hand… We will not accept that in a Congress-run state, an RSS-leaning person is made vice-chancellor…” said an official from the CM house.
The official further said that the government is planning to amend the ‘rules of appointment’.
“The rules will be amended through legislation and the role of Governor for appointment of chancellors of state universities will be nullified,” said senior Congress leader, on condition of anonymity.
Reacting over the development in the state, BJP leader and spokesperson Gauri Shankar Srivas said that the state government is prejudiced and appointing people from a ‘particular ideology’.
“This Congress government is not accepting people of high caliber and appointing people from a particular ideology in every institution… the students of this state will suffer in this process,” said Srivas.
