The one-year term extension granted to Visvesvaraya Technological University Vice-Chancellor H. Maheshappa is a result of the delay by the State government in appointing the search committee, Governor H.R. Bharadwaj has said.
He was reacting to criticism by academics who opposed his decision.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the release of the Kannada translation of Pascal Alan Nazareth’s book ‘Gandhi’s Outstanding Leadership’, he said that he was left with little option on the decision.
“People can say whatever they want, but the fact is that the search committee was delayed.” He also said that once appointed, the search committee did not meet enough or deliberate on the names.
“The government appointed its nominee (Indian Institute of Science director P. Balaram) in the last minute, and he did not even attend the meeting. Also, there was no unanimity on the panel of names, so I decided to extend the existing Chancellors’ term according to a legal provision,” he said.
Mr. Maheshappa’s term had ended on June 30 and the search committee submitted a list of four names on June 29.
When asked about this list, the governor put the blame on the State government. “I had no choice but to make this decision. The government was trying to control the university. Ministers have no role to play here.”
The book release function included a discourse on Gandhi and his methods.
