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Patna,(BiharTimes): The Governor-cum-Chancellor, Devanand Konwar, on Thursday returned the Bihar State Universities (Amendment) Bill 2011 and Patna University (Amendment) Bill 2011––besides three other Bills. The move may lead to a fresh showdown between the state government and Raj Bhawan over the appointment of Vice Chancellors in the universities of the state. It may further delay the appointment of VCs in different universities of Bihar, including Patna University. |
These Bills were passed at the fag end of Budget Session of the Bihar Assembly last March and is aimed at curtailing the power of the Chancellor with regard to the higher education.
Reports said that the Bills were returned by the Governor as he deemed it to be a Money Bill and not an ordinary Bills. The Raj Bhawan is of the view that the government should have consulted the Chancellor before passing a Money Bill.
Like in the past Speaker Uday Narayan Chaudhary said that the power to decide the nature of the Bill lies with the Speaker and not Governor.
Earlier too, the Governor had returned a Bill pertaining to the universities on the ground that it was a Money Bill. However, the Speaker had over-ruled the Governor’s objection that it was a Money Bill.
It is said that the Bihar Universities (Amendment) Bill and Patna University (Amendment) Bill seek to end the autonomy of Chancellor in the appointment of VCs, who according to the proposed legislation would be chosen by a Search Committee.
This Search Committee would consist of HRD Principal Secretary/HRD Secretary, one person appointed by the governor, member nominated by the UGC chairperson, any existing VC from the University in the state, a member nominated by the state government, director of any technical institution and VC from any law university of the country.
There has been no regular appointment of VCs in most universities of the state, which are being run by acting VCs.
Recently, the government put a restriction on the financial powers of the VCs of JP University, Chapra, B N Mandal University, Madhepura, BR Ambedkar Bihar University, Muzaffarpur, L N Mithila University, Darbhanga, Maulana Mazhar-ul-Haq Arabic and Persian University, Patna. These VCs were appointed by the Chancellor in January last. There are many academics who fear that once the new Bills are enacted the bureaucratic interference would increase.
Apart from the two Bills the Governor also returned the State University Service Commission Bill, Bihar Administrative Tribunal Bill and Bihar Teachers and Staff Dispute Redressal Authority Bill.
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