Governor Droupadi Murmu, as the chancellor of state universities, has appointed four new vice-chancellors for universities here, including firebrand Adivasi professor of JNU, Sonajharia Minz.
While exercising powers conferred on her under Section 10 (2) of the Jharkhand State Universities Act, 2000, she also appointed, on the advice of the state government, pro vice-chancellors at four varsities.
The news release issued by the Raj Bhavan in Ranchi on Wednesday said the new vice-chancellors are Mukul Narayan Dev for Vinoba Bhave University (VBU), Hazaribagh; Sonajharia Minz for Sido Kanhu Murmu University (SKMU), Dumka; Ram Lakhan Singh for Nilamber Pitamber University (NPU), Daltonganj in Palamau; and Gangadhar Panda for Kolhan University (KU) in Chaibasa.
Dev, a former scientific officer cum head of the atomic and molecular physics division of the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, replaces Ramesh Sharan at VBU-Hazaribagh.
Minz was a professor at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, as well as the president of the JNU Teachers’ Association. She has now become the vice-chancellor of SKMU-Dumka, replacing M.K. Sinha.
Singh, who was a biochemistry professor at the Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Awadh University in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, takes over from |S.N. Singh at NPU-Daltonganj.
Panda has been formerly the vice-chancellor of Sampurnanand Sanskrit University, Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, and replaces Shukla Mahanty at Kolhan University.
The pro VCs also come with varied experience. Ajit Kumar Sinha, chief scientist and professor at the advanced centre for sericulture of Dr Kalam Agriculture College, Kishanganj in Bihar, has been appointed pro VC at VBU-Hazaribagh. His counterpart at NPU-Daltonganj is Deep Narayan Yadav, formerly a philosophy professor at Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gorakhpur University in Uttar Pradesh.
Arun Kumar Sinha, chief scientist cum professor at the ACSIR CISR-CDRI, Lucknow, has been appointed pro VC of Kolhan University.
Kamini Kumar, incumbent pro VC of Ranchi University, has been reappointed as the pro VC of the same varsity.
Job priority
Kolhan University’s new VC Gangadhar Panda on his first day in office on Thursday said he will work to ensure the employability of tribal students.
Appointed on Wednesday, on Thursday Panda received a warm welcome from his predecessor Shukla Mahanty and other university officials.
On his vision, he said: “There are tribal students in this region and my first priority would be to ensure they get to study job-oriented courses for better employability. Also, getting a better grading from the National Assessment and Accreditation Council is important for the varsity.”
He said he would soon meet the officials of the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) as he has learnt that the major problem in Kolhan constituent colleges is the dearth of teachers. “Something has to be done about it soon,” Panda said.
He also said he wanted to start a lecture series named after tribal leaders and would also collaborate with reputable institutes for knowledge-sharing especially in science.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY ANTARA BOSE IN JAMSHEDPUR
