Guv’s maiden meeting with all VCs today; important decisions likely

Nishikant Khajuria
JAMMU, Dec 26: As a high level maiden meeting of Governor Satya Pal Malik with Vice-Chancellors of all the State universities in Jammu and Kashmir is going to be convened here tomorrow, some important decisions are likely to be taken after detailed discussion on a wide range of issue for better, transparent and fair functioning of the varsities.
Official sources told the excelsior that the issues ranging from faculty positions, filling up of teaching vacancies, timely holding of examinations and declaration of results, transparency in appointments and admissions, university ranking, implementation of quality mandate of UGC and AICTE among 17 items are on agenda of the meeting, which will be held at Raj Bhawan Jammu at 11 am.
The top level meeting also assumes more significance in view of the fact that tenure of two Vice-Chancellors is going to expire in next three months and Search Panels for the new VCs may be formed soon, sources added.
Being chaired by the Governor, who is Chancellor of all the State Universities, the meeting will be attended by Khurshid Ahmad Ganai, Advisor to Governor; B V R Subrahmanyam, Chief Secretary, J&K; Naveen Kumar Choudhary, Principal Secretary, Finance Department and Financial Advisor of the State universities; Sarita Chauhan, Commissioner Secretary, Higher Education Department and Manzoor Ahmad Lone, Secretary Agriculture Production Department besides Vice-Chancellors of nine universities in Jammu Kashmir.
Vice-Chancellors of Jammu University, Kashmir University, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST) Jammu, SKUAST- Kashmir, Cluster University Jammu, Cluster University Kashmir, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University (SMVDU), Katra, Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University (BGSBU) Rajouri and Islamia University of Science and Technology, Awantipora have been asked to attend the meeting on the scheduled date and time.
Prof Pardeep Kumar Sharma, Vice-Chancellor of SKUAST-Jammu and Dr Sanjeev Jain, Vice-chancellor of SMVDU Katra, are going to complete their tenure in March 2019 and speculations are that the Governor House is going to form the Search Panels for new VCs in next few days.
This is the maiden meting of Vice-Chancellors of the State Universities with the Governor cum Chancellor, Satya Pal Malik, who had assumed the office of Governor J&K on August 23, 2018.
While elaborating, sources said that filling up of teaching vacancies, appointment of teachers and admission of students to be done in prompt and transparent manner is on top of the agenda of the meeting, which will also discuss adherence to time schedule for holding of examinations, declaration of results and holding of convocation, timely revision of syllabus to be done regularly to keep in tandem with changing global context, incentivisation of good quality research, conduct of seminar/workshops to understand the parameters on which universities are ranked globally and strive towards securing high ranking and digitization of the university process starting from admission application to award of degrees.
Discussion of the meeting will also focus on B.Ed courses to be run in fair and transparent manner in terms of National Regulations issued by National Council for Teacher Education and running Elementary Teacher’s Training Programme as per regulation by ensuring that all the students must be made to attend all the classes regularly.
Other items on agenda of the meeting, include; considering to start certificate/Diploma/Degree courses on Yoga to prepare professional teachers who can spread the teaching of Yoga around the world, SWAYAM courses to be mandated in all universities, setting up of incubation centres for inculcating entrepreneurship/innovative skills in the students, consider adoption of villages on pattern of Corporate Social Responsibility with focus on construction of toilets, literacy, health, immunization and dissemination of welfare schemes of Central and State Governments, establishing recruitment cells, developing a Centre of Excellence in any one subject/area of study and in a particular Sport, etc.
The meeting will begin with brief overview of the universities by Commissioner Secretary Higher Education and this will be followed by around one- hour discussion on the agenda items. The meeting will conclude with observations of the Governor, who is well known for his bold remarks and taking on B.Ed mafia in Bihar during his tenure as Governor of that State.

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