CM KCR keeps Vice-Chancellor lobbyists at bay, says appointment only on merit

Hyderabad: Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao is reportedly at his wit's ends as certain political leaders including from his own party are trying to lobby for various Vice-Chancellor posts vacant in universities across the State.

According to highly placed sources in the State High Education Department (SHED), lobbying has been intensified following the State government clearing two names for the appointment of regular Vice-Chancellors for Sri Konda Laxman Telangana State Horticultural University (SKLTSHU) and PV Narsimha Rao Telangana Veterinary University (PVNRTVU).

Speaking to The Hans India, a top SHED official said the Chief Minister had reportedly lost his cool and admonished the lobbyists directly asking them not to press the case of anybody for the posts of university Vice-Chancellors. "Should the V-Cs be selected based on their merits or pairavee?" he reportedly thundered at the lobbyists.

Following these developments, the middlemen who had assured the aspiring V-Cs of the plum posts in academics are reportedly shell-shocked at the poser of the Chief Minister.

Amidst these developments, names of one or two professors currently serving in the State universities have come under consideration. Names of these professors are not on the table. But their names are under consideration, based on merit and the support that they have been extending to various efforts of the State government.

"Their names are under consideration for the appointment to the top post at Osmania University, Kakatiya University and two more State universities," the sources said. However, a final decision has to be taken by the Chief Minister, they added.

Meanwhile, the process of appointment of regular V-Cs to Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad (JNTU-H), Potti Sriramulu Telugu University (PSTU), Dr B R Ambedkar Open University (DBRAOU), Mahatma Gandhi University (MGU), Satavahana University (SU), Telangana University (TU), Palarmuru University (PU), Rajeev Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies (RGUKT) and Jawaharlal Nehru Architecture and Fine Arts University (JNAFAU) has started following the directions of the Chief Minister.

"We expect the announcement of appointment of regular VCs for the universities before the second week of February," said a top SHED official, adding that schedule for the graduate constituency MLC elections is expected to be announced around February 15. It is not possible to announce the appointments once the election code comes into effect and the government will have to wait till the election process is completed as most of the universities fall under the jurisdiction of the two graduate constituencies. Against this backdrop, the SHED is asked to complete the process and announcement of regular VCs before the notification of elections scheduled for the two graduate constituencies, the sources said.