“I think this should not be politicized as it is not an Election but a Selection.”

Eastern Panorama’s Editorial team met the man at the centre of the controversy , Prof A. N. Rai who has been appointed Vice Chancellor of North Eastern Hill University(NEHU) which had earned a good name in the academic world and was also tipped as a proposed World Class University. Unfortunately, of late, NEHU has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. First there was a crisis against the Finance officer then the demand for the ouster of former Vice Chancellor P. Tandon and now the demand for an indigenous Vice Chancellor (VC).

The current VC , Professor A. N. Rai is a Phd holder from the University of Dundee, Scotland and has more then 1300 (thirteen hundred) citations to his name. Incidentally he has also chaired Enquiry Committees of other Central Universities.

We spoke to Professor A.N. Rai to understand his views on the current situation at NEHU and the method as to how a VC is appointed. Below are the excerpts of his interview.

EP - How does the appointment of the Vice Chancellor(VC) take place in a Central University?

A.N.R - Let me give you a little brief about a Central University. A Central University is set up by an Act of Parliament and in each Central University there is a different Act and along with it there are initial statutes. This lays the background on how the University will be set up and who will be the authority and what will be the function of these authorities and how it develops and functions. This is the main Act. Within that Act you have to prepare subordinate legislation. This consists of ordinance, regulation and rules. These also are created through institutionary bodies which are provided for in the original legislative like Academic Council, Executive Council, Court and Finance. This is a very democratic setup, in which in all the Councils have representatives from teachers, heads, deans etc. Once this subordinate legislation is in place then you run the University as per the laid down rules. Within that a Vice Chancellor’s role is provided for besides the procedure of appointment. Now the procedure in the case of NEHU as in all other Central Universities for the appointment of the VC is by a Search Committee (SC). The SC will prepare a panel of 3 to 4 names and this panel is sent to the President of India. The President selects one out of that panel.

EP- How does the SC work? A.N.R - The SC works by inviting nominations along with the bio datas of people of eminence. The standard practice is that the SC will ask the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) to write to all the VCs, Governors all across India and ask them to nominate people for a vacant post of VC. Once these are collected, the SC then goes through all the bio datas and they select at least three to four names. Proper documentation is done in regard to rejection and selections as reasons have to be given them. This is how the SC works. There is a misconception that MHRD appoints the VC. To understand this you need to know how a SC is instituted. Two members for the SC will be nominated by the Executive Council of the University. One name for the SC is given by the President of India and that person becomes the Chairman of the SC. We can see that even in the constitution of the SC the highest constitution of the country is involved. Hence there is nothing like MHRD or government interference. Being an academic institution NEHU should run on academic grounds and not on other grounds. MHRD is a nodal agency and their function in this case is coordinating

E.P - Was the procedure of appointment of VC followed correctly in your case?

A.N.R - As far as I know, Yes. Because of the three things

i. Names were sent by the Executive Council of NEHU

ii. The President of India has appointed the Chairman

iii. The Committee has met and forwarded three names to the President and the President has finally selected me.

E.P - Sir one of the main objections is your transfer from Mizoram University. Will you comment on this?

A.N.R - Often you see that people sometimes use things like the VC is transferred from here to there loosely in newspapers. There is no provision for transfer of a VC of a Central University anywhere in the legislation.

E.P - Any member of NEHU can not be in the SC. Isn’t Mr J M Lyngdoh associated with NEHU?

A.N.R - Members from NEHU can not be in the SC. The members of the current SC nominated by NEHU were R. Chidambaram, Mr. J.M Lyngdoh and Mr. A. Hussain. All these three are eminent people. Now as far as I know none of them are associated with the University. However I think the controversy has been raised because Mr. J.M Lyngdoh was given an honouree degree. My personal opinion is that when I give a degree that way every student of NEHU is forever associated with the University. Therefore they will not appear in future anywhere in the Committee of the University. I feel it is not correct to say that because he got a degree he is associated with the University. He is not a member of any Committee or Council of NEHU nor is he a member of the faculty.

E.P - Will you continue as VC since the students are opposing your appointment?

A.N.R - Again my continuation as VC of North Eastern Hill University is on the pleasure of the President of India. I think this should not be politicized as it is not an Election but a Selection. Also in the larger issue if there is something wrong with the university people should express their views. But for appointment of VC if an opinion or suggestion is to be given that should go to the appropriate forum i.e. the President of India for consideration. And the only way it can be considered is by changing the legislation for the appointment of VC. Unless you change that how are you going to have the desired effect? If somebody wants a local Vice Chancellor how are you going to achieve it unless you make a provision in the legislature and this legislation has to be created by Parliament. If it is a necessary change then the legislation will move for amendment.

E.P - Your previous term as Vice Chancellor at Mizoram University was not completed. Shouldnt this be a concern?

A.N.R - Again I do not see what the objection is. The term of Vice Chancellor is 5 years. I had completed four and half years. I was in the final few months of my tenure. As such there is no bar that if you are appointed to a particular post at one place then you can not be considered for appointment to another place unless you complete your term. In fact there are many instances were a person appointed as Secretary in some place has been appointed a Secretary somewhere else. Another point is that there is a general advisory by the President of India to the Vice Chancellors of all Central Universities that in the final few months of their tenure, they should avoid taking big policy decisions or even make appointments and all that (Remember it is an advisory, not mandatory but most people abide by it because it is from the President of India). So what happens is that in the final few months of the tenure of a VC in a Central University it is mostly routine work. In that period you are under consideration only if you have done well. It is more difficult for a sitting VC to get appointed because along with his bio-data his work as VC is also reviewed whereas for a fresh candidate only the bio data is sufficient. It is a credit to me rather than a discredit. When people start spreading rumours, they must realize that the four and half years of a successful Vice Chancellorship and a lot of development in the Mizoram University have contributed to my credit. If my tern in Mizoram was a discredit then I would not have been considered at all.

E.P - Why is there so much protest about the appointment of Vice Chancellor then?

A.N.R - Since I was not here, I may not know the full reality. My feeling is that not all but a large number of people felt that we need a local VC. I would say that it is more to do with sentiment because again as per the legislation the role of VC is defined very clearly that it is the duty of the VC to ensure that the University functions according to Acts, statutes, ordinances laid down. So whether a local or a non local person, he has to do the same thing. He can not deviate from the role of VC. Therefore to me it seems like a matter of sentiment.

E.P - Do you feel that the student community may have been instigated in this particular case?

A.N.R - You see as it is a University, I take it for granted that most if not all of the students are actually adults and mature. However if you are an adult or matured, the arguments and counter arguments shape your thinking. So in this scenario there may have been discussions and also information given. All this shapes the thinking and opinion of anybody not just students. There could have been some correct information and some incorrect information. Because initially there was something said about me which now they are not saying because they found out it was incorrect. So this may have led to a situation were the students may have got themselves involved. So it is incorrect to say that they were instigated rather they may have been influenced by a particular thought. If they were school children then I understand them being instigated. The cause of action they took was probably undesirable but then again when you are young you sometimes do things and then think about it later. Reaction to something at a younger stage is stronger than when you are a little bit more mature. As we grow older our actions become more and more restrained and followed by our thoughts.

E.P – It seems that some professors were not too happy with your appointment, what are your thoughts on this?

A.N.R - There may be some I do not know the reason. Nobody has come out and said why. But if there are senior professors objecting to me they should come out with a reason. The teachers’ union was here and they simply said that they are not opposed to me. They are with the sentiments of the people but nobody in the teachers’ union or non-teaching union said that they are not happy with me. They are still talking to the Ministry. In fact they have submitted a petition. They are questioning the process of appointment of Vice Chancellor. I have already said that in a democracy it is good to question a process or procedure. And then if it is desirable, to change the process or procedure. However, before changing it we should not jump in and say “The rules are this but I want you to do this.” May all this lead to a better situation then the Ministry may think of a new legislation or modify the legislation on appointment of Vice Chancellor. Discussions at a larger level say the national level will be good for democracy. In that context I am happy that how a Vice Chancellor is appointed is being discussed.

E.P - NEHU has been in the wrong news for a long time. This way the face value of NEHU is decreasing. How do you see things in the near future for NEHU?

A.N.R - Future means what potential NEHU retains. There is no diminishing of potential but to achieve the potential of a great university there are any number of examples from the past and even now. We should not restrict our vision to local or regional or even the national scene. Education is global. We should look globally and see what the traits of a great university are. We should try to have the best faculty and the best management practices so that we can have good research. Post Graduate teaching is research oriented. And for all this you need good ambience. See it is difficult to quantify it but it is a particular kind of environment under which academics flourish. This is one of the reasons that we give so much liberty to teachers. Sometimes it is misused but the overall impact is good because that liberty has to be there to academicians. If you channelise that to a productive cause we will do a great job.

E.P - What are your plans for the university?

A.N.R - First thing is a re-focus on teaching, learning and research. Secondly to have a re-look at the university management system so that we become more efficient there because there is a teaching non-teaching interface. The staff in administration is supposed to facilitate this work of teaching, learning and research by giving administrative support. So if the system becomes bureaucratic like a government department, the university can’t flourish. So I have already started working as to where the bottlenecks are; where we can cut down on file movement to make it more efficient. The main aim is that decisions should be quicker.