The smouldering wrangle between Bihar governor Devanand Konwar and the Nitish Kumar-led government over administration of the state’s universities got fresh momentum after Mr Konwar appointed six university vice-chancellors and five pro-vice-chancellors apparently disregarding the government’s wishes.
The JD(U)-BJP government, whose determined efforts to fix Bihar’s higher education have put it in a virtual cold war with Raj Bhavan, sensed a major setback especially because Mr Konwar, the chancellor of the state’s universities, was expected to accommodate the government’s choice of candidates as V-Cs and pro-V-Cs following his Jul 17 meeting with chief minister Nitish Kumar.
While Mr Konwar reportedly included none of the 12 shortlisted persons recommended by the government in January for appointment as V-Cs and pro-V-Cs for hitherto unspecified reasons, the appointments made on Monday were announced apparently without even informing the government. Bihar education minister P.K. Shahi said he learnt of the appointments only from the newspapers. Describing the governor’s decision as “arbitrary”, Mr Shahi and deputy CM S.K. Modi openly voiced the government’s displeasure with Raj Bhavan.