HRD panel to probe Pandey
Source: The Sangai Express / Courtesy - Economic Times
New Delhi, July 13 2018:
The Ministry of Human Resource Development will set up a fact-finding committee to probe into the allegations against Manipur University Vice-Chancellor.
The University has been recently facing crisis over demands of Vice Chancellor Adya Prasad Pandey's removal.
The HRD move has come after the President's Office sought information on the issue and Chief Minister N Biren Singh's repeated requests for Central Government intervention to break the impasse.
The committee, which will have officials from the HRD Ministry and the University Grants Commission (UGC) will submit its report within a month, ET has learned.
Sources in Rashtrapati Bhawan confirmed to ET that the President's Secretariat had asked for information from the Ministry and has also received a communication in this regard.
Manipur University's Student Union has been demanding Pandey's removal over a range of issues such as maladministration and corruption.
It has also been alleged that the VC has been staying largely off campus and failing to fill posts in the university.
Both the teaching and non-teaching staff union have joined hands with the student association demanding the VC's ouster.
Most of the deans and heads of departments have resigned in protest.
Pandey, the former HoD of Economics at BHU, was appointed as VC of the Manipur University in October 2016.While the VC has strongly denied the allegations, sources in the Ministry indicated there were some worrisome issues which necessitate close examination.
The Ministry's attempts at nudging the VC to go on leave for a while to calm down the situation have not yielded any result.
While desisting from conducting a full fledged visitorial inquiry against him, the Ministry has decided to set up a panel to make the first assessments.
It is being hoped that this will satisfy the agitating students and the University will be allowed to begin its new academic session next week.