{"id":44508,"date":"2025-01-13T12:05:18","date_gmt":"2025-01-13T06:35:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=44508"},"modified":"2025-05-06T12:02:27","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T06:32:27","slug":"centre-state-clashes-on-vice-chancellor-appointments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/centre-state-clashes-on-vice-chancellor-appointments\/","title":{"rendered":"Centre-State Clashes on Vice Chancellor Appointments"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><strong>What\u2019s in Today\u2019s Article?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>New Regulations for Appointing VCs in Universities<\/li>\n<li>How VCs are Appointed?<\/li>\n<li>Key Provisions of the Draft Regulations 2025<\/li>\n<li>State vs Centre Disputes over VC Appointments<\/li>\n<li>Federalism Concerns over VCs Appointments<\/li>\n<li>Conclusion<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Why in News?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The University Grants Commission (UGC) has proposed new regulations for appointing Vice Chancellors (VCs) in universities, sparking disputes between states and the Centre.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>New Regulations for Appointing VCs in Universities:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Name: <\/strong>The draft UGC (Minimum Qualifications for Appointment and Promotion of Teachers and Academic Staff in Universities and Colleges and Measures for the Maintenance of Standards in Higher Education) Regulations, 2025.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Objective:<\/strong> It aims to standardize appointment processes but has drawn criticism for allegedly undermining state rights and federalism.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>How VCs are Appointed?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Central universities:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Central universities are established under parliamentary Acts and administered by the Centre, with the President of India acting as Visitor.<\/li>\n<li>VC appointment committees include two nominees from the university\u2019s Executive Council and one from the Visitor.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>State universities:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>State-specific laws often determine the composition of search committees.<\/li>\n<li>Typically, the Chancellor (usually the Governor) selects the VC based on committee recommendations.<\/li>\n<li>For instance, Kerala\u2019s law includes nominees from the university Senate, UGC Chairman, and Chancellor.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Private universities: <\/strong>Private institutions follow similar procedures, with UGC playing a limited role through its nominee in the search committee.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Key Provisions of the Draft Regulations 2025:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Committee composition changes:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The new rules specify that the <strong>search-cum-selection committee<\/strong> will have three members, including one each nominated by the Chancellor\/Visitor, the UGC Chairman, and the university\u2019s apex body (e.g., Senate or Syndicate).<\/li>\n<li>This grants a majority to Centre-aligned nominees in the committee.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Eligibility expansion: <\/strong>Besides professors, individuals from senior roles in industries, public policy, administration, or public sector undertakings may now qualify as VCs.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Chancellor\u2019s role:<\/strong> The Chancellor or Visitor will directly constitute the search committee, a departure from the 2018 guidelines.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>State vs Centre Disputes over VC Appointments:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Kerala:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Conflict started in 2021 when Governor Arif Mohammad Khan contested VC reappointments.<\/li>\n<li>The state passed a Bill to replace the Governor as Chancellor, which awaits Presidential assent.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>West Bengal:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The Supreme Court is involved in resolving disputes over interim VC appointments made unilaterally by the Governor.<\/li>\n<li>The state Assembly\u2019s move to replace the Governor with the Chief Minister as Chancellor is stalled due to lack of gubernatorial assent.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Karnataka:<\/strong> Proposed legislative reforms aim to remove the Governor as Chancellor. Bills are awaiting approval.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Maharashtra: <\/strong>Attempts to limit the Governor\u2019s role in VC appointments were reversed under the new government in 2022.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Tamil Nadu: <\/strong>The DMK-led government\u2019s efforts to appoint VCs without Governor approval remain blocked.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Federalism Concerns over VCs Appointments:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>State governments have raised alarms over the draft regulations, citing:\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Erosion of State autonomy:<\/strong> States argue that these rules centralize power in the hands of Governors, undermining federal principles.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Democratic concerns:<\/strong> Critics see it as a move to weaken democratically elected state governments.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>State leaders\u2019 reactions:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan:<\/strong> Described the draft as \u201canti-federal\u201d and an overreach into state rights.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Tamil Nadu CM M K Stalin:<\/strong> Called it a \u201cdirect assault on federalism.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>UGC\u2019s stance: <\/strong>UGC Chairman M Jagadesh Kumar defended the regulations as necessary for aligning with the <strong>National Education Policy 2020<\/strong> and ensuring transparent, high-quality leadership in higher education.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Conclusion:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The proposed UGC regulations have intensified ongoing Centre-state tensions, particularly over Governors\u2019 roles in university administration.<\/li>\n<li>While the Centre justifies these reforms as quality-driven, state governments view them as a threat to federalism and their autonomy in education governance.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The resolution of these disputes will significantly shape higher education and federal-state dynamics in India.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Q.1. Why is education brought under concurrent list of the seventh schedule of the constitution of India?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Education was added to the concurrent list in India&#8217;s constitution to allow for a partnership between the central and state governments to improve education standards and ensure quality.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Q.2. How the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 ensures transparent, high-quality higher education in India?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The NEP 2020 aims to ensure high-quality higher education in India in several ways, including flexible course options, interdisciplinary study, academic bank of credit, etc.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/what-draft-rules-on-vc-appointments-say-why-states-are-upset-9775435\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">IE<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hindustantimes.com\/cities\/chandigarh-news\/ugc-draft-rules-on-v-c-appointments-aimed-at-usurping-states-rights-says-sukhbir-101736703889818.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">HT<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The University Grants Commission (UGC) has proposed new regulations for appointing Vice Chancellors (VCs) in universities, sparking disputes between states and the Centre<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":44509,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-44508","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44508","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44508"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44508\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44509"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}