The State Cabinet, on Wednesday, in a serious bid to clip the powers of the Governor, approved amendments to the Maharashtra Public Universities Act, 2016.
The amendment empowers the state government to recommend to the Governor the names for the vice-chancellors' posts. At present, the Governor is the chancellor of the universities in the State and he appoints the vice-chancellors on a committee’s recommendations. Further, the Cabinet also gave nod to a proposal to incorporate section 9(A) in the Maharashtra Public Universities Act, as per which the higher and technical education minister will be appointed as the pro-chancellor of the universities.
Following the amendment, the governor will not be able to directly appoint the vice-chancellors based on the committee’s recommendations. Instead, henceforth the committee will recommend five names for the post of vice-chancellor and of these the state government will shortlist two and send them to the Governor who is also the chancellor.
As per the present provision of the Act, a vice-chancellor is appointed by the chancellor on the recommendation of a committee, which comprises a nominee of the chancellor, who is a retired judge of the Supreme Court or high court, principal secretary of the higher and technical education department, and director or head of an institute of national repute established by an act of Parliament.
The government also intends to change the committee’s format. As far as the appointment of pro-vice-chancellor is concerned, the vice-chancellor will suggest names to the state government which will, in turn, recommend three names to the chancellor (Governor). One of those three names will be appointed as pro-vice-chancellor. These changes were proposed on the recommendation of a high-level committee chaired by former University Grants Commission Chairman Sukhdev Thorat.
The panel had suggested improvement in the Maharashtra Public Universities Act, for effective implementation of the National Education Policy, 2020, thereby enhancing quality and excellence.
