A day after Nalanda University asked university Vice-Chancellor Gopa Sabharwal to continue as interim vice-chancellor after her term ends on November 24 till her replacement is found, the President has cancelled the extension and dissolved the Nalanda Mentors’ Group to pave the way for a new governing board to be headed by the Chancellor.
Top sources The Hindu talked to said that the decision flowed from the fact that the Nalanda University Act, 2010, permits only a single one-year extension to the Vice-Chancellor, which ends on November 24.
The new governing board will be headed by the Nalanda University Chancellor George Yeo and have the Vice-Chancellor and representatives of India, China, Australia, Laos and Thailand on it. Former Rajya Sabha MP and retired bureaucrat N.K. Singh is the India representative on the board.
“It is the prerogative of the government to reconstruct the board. They have done it in accordance with provisions,” Mr. NK Singh told The Hindu .
The Board will also have the Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs, two members from the Bihar government, one representative from the Ministry of Human Resource Development at least of additional secretary rank and three “renowned academicians” – Professor Arvind Sharma from McGill University of Canada; Indian Council for Cultural Relations president professor Lokesh Chandra and Niti Aayog Vice-Chairman Dr. Arvind Panagariya.
The senior-most dean will discharge the duties of the V-Chancellor after Dr. Sabharwal leaves.
Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen – who quit as chancellor in 2015 – and academic and Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Sugata Bose are no longer part of the Board.
Nalanda University was initially a Bihar government initiative to rebuild the renowned ancient seat of learning. The State government persuaded the Manmohan Singh government to take over the project. The Ministry of External Affairs – which is the administrative ministry of this university – constituted a Nalanda Mentors’ Group (NMG) to run it.
When the Nalanda University Act was moved through Parliament, the NMG was to be the first governing body of the university for one year. After this, the NMG continued to get extensions. The Act, however, provides for the constitution of a governing board and the present decision puts it in place.
