Telangana Government receives 55 applications for VC posts

Hyderabad: The State Higher Education department (SHED) found a huge response for the posts of vice-chancellors for the State universities.

According to sources, so far about 55 applications have been received from senior professors from several State universities submitting their credentials for posts.

However, questions have been raised on issue of in-breeding at leadership positions of the universities.

Speaking to The Hans India, a senior official pointed out that all applications so far received are from academicians from Telangana. Pointing out that the State government fails to think out of the box and seek applications giving opportunities to best possible academic leadership from across the country to lead the State universities.

"Encouraging international schooling, shaping Hyderabad and Telangana into a global standards education hub has been limited more to political rhetoric, than showing in action," said a senior professor from a State university’. However, countering it a former vice-chancellor of a State university pointed out, "It is not happening only after the formation of Telangana. This tradition of appointing vice-chancellors with candidates from within the same university has existed right from the days of united Andhra Pradesh."

Senior academicians from the Osmania and other State universities from Telugu States served and are serving as vice-chancellors of the Central universities, national universities and Central research institutions and agencies across the country. However, the political dispensation and SHED have never allowed academicians to compete for the best from across the leadership positions to head State universities. The successive State governments failed to look to get best of academic leadership from across the nation to head State universities; yet, it hopes to achieve global standards.

On the other hand, with the name-sake autonomy and facing fund shortage, the State universities are not in a position to invite hiring the best to come and teach on hitech areas of education and research on a contract basis. Both on the faculty side and leadership side the State universities remain hubs of inbreeding resulting in efforts to improve academic and research standards taking a beating, the sources said.