Patna:
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today made public his growing differences with Governor Devanand Konwar over the controversy on appointments of Vice Chancellors and Pro-Vice-Chancellors.
"There was no consultation as per the High Court order on the recent appointment of the Vice-Chancellors by the Governor-cum -Chancellor," alleged Mr Kumar. This was the first time the Chief Minister spoke out on Mr Konwar's controversial choice of Vice-Chancellors and Pro-Vice-Chancellors. Several of these appointed men are reportedly facing vigilance probes or have charges of financial irregularities against them.
The Governor on Saturday appointed Vice-Chancellors and Pro-Vice-Chancellors in eight universities of Bihar. The state government had asked for the details of the recruitment process for these posts but was reportedly ignored.
"This is a very sad state of affairs where nothing is in our hands, and everything is done in such an arbitrary manner by the Chancellor," Mr Kumar said.
Two months ago, the Patna High Court had quashed the appointment of six Vice-Chancellors and two Pro-Vice-Chancellors on the ground that they were made by the Chancellor without consultation with the state government.
Mr Kumar today alleged that the fresh appointments made last week were again done without proper consultation by Mr Konwar, despite orders from the Patna High Court on December 7.
"The Governor sent us a list of names but it was not specified which names are being considered for which universities. Then our HRD department wrote with details of the pending cases (against some of the candidates) but it was ignored by the Governor. People expect us improve the higher education system in the state, but then we don't have any say in the running of the affairs and people are being chosen overlooking the irregularities committed by them," Mr Kumar said.
Governor Konwar defended himself in Delhi, saying that state government suggestion is not binding on him as per the Patna High Court's order. However, he refused to comment on him appointing people facing charges and probes.