Bhubaneswar: The state government is all set to amend the Odisha Universities (Amendment) Act, 2020 to give autonomy to the state public varsities.
Giving this information, Higher Education Minister Suryabanshi Suraj told reporters on Saturday that the state universities will be provided with autonomy in matters relating to appointment of vice- chancellors.
Responding to a query regarding extension of the tenure of vice-chancellors (VCs) of three universities, the Minister said this is a temporary measure and the process for the selection of full-time VCs will be initiated soon.
Since the government is about to amend the Odisha Universities (Amendment) Act, 2020, it did not intend to select the VCs as per the existing rule, he said.
As soon as the law is amended, the process for selection of VCs will begin. Universities will get the required autonomy and selection of VCs will be done in consultation with the Governor, who is the Chancellor of state-run universities, Suraj said.
Notably, Governor and Chancellor of state public universities Raghubar Das two days ago extended the tenure of vice-chancellors of three universities by six months.
The vice-chancellors are Sabita Acharya of Utkal University, Aparajita Chowdhury of Ramadevi Women’s University and N Nagaraju of Gangadhar Meher University. Their tenure was due to end in the last week of this month.
In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (8) of Odisha Universities Act, 1989, the Chancellor decided to extend their tenure as the Higher Education department is yet to issue advertisement for appointment of new VCs of Utkal, Ramadevi and Gangadhar Meher universities.
