Chandigarh: Panjab University has been without a regular vice-chancellor for 68 days, with Prof Meenakshi Goyal continuing to discharge the VC’s responsibilities since July 29 even though the process to appoint a regular incumbent had already reached the interview stage before the previous VC’s tenure ended.Prof Goyal, dean of university instruction, was given charge after Prof Renu Vig completed her tenure on July 28. The chancellor’s order said Goyal would discharge the responsibilities of vice-chancellor “until alternative arrangements are made or until further orders, whichever is earlier.”The irony is that the selection process for a regular VC had already moved substantially ahead. A three-member search-cum-selection committee headed by Lt Gen Madhuri Kanitkar (retd), with Prof Shashikala Wanzari and Prof Vibha Tandon as members, had been constituted earlier this year. The committee shortlisted 28 candidates, of whom 25 appeared for interviews held in the first week of July. Yet, by the time Vig’s tenure ended on July 28, no regular VC had been appointed, leaving the university to put an interim arrangement in place.The arrangement at the top comes against the backdrop of long-running charge arrangements in three other important offices.Prof YP Verma has been holding the charge of Registrar since May 11, 2022. The order appointing him said the charge was being given “with immediate effect, till further orders”. He replaced Vikram Nayyar, who had been officiating as Registrar since September 2020.The Controller of Examinations post has been under an additional-charge arrangement since November 2020. Prof Jagat Bhushan was initially given the additional charge from November 18 to December 31 that year, during the leave of the then Controller, Prof Parvinder Singh. The arrangement subsequently continued.The DCDC has also seen a long wait for a regular appointment. PU had advertised the post in 2022 along with the Registrar’s post, but the recruitment process did not progress. At the time, the university had not made a regular appointment to the DCDC since 2016. Prof Ravi Inder Singh was appointed Dean, College Development Council in June 2025 and continues in the position.The four offices together cover the university’s overall leadership, administration, examination system and its affiliated-college network.The question now is how soon the ongoing process will result in a regular VC and whether the change at the top will also bring an end to the prolonged charge arrangements in other senior offices.BOX- ‘Leadership vacuum’ existed in past too: GroverFormer PU vice-chancellor Prof Arun Grover said the university had experienced a “leadership vacuum” during transitions in the past as well.Recalling the end of his own tenure, Grover said a day before his term ended, he received a WhatsApp message from the secretary to the chancellor telling him that Prof Raj Kumar would be the next vice-chancellor.“There was no search committee, no interviews, no process,” Grover said, describing how the proposed appointment was communicated to him.Grover said such a situation left the university without clarity over its leadership transition and stressed the importance of following a proper process for appointing the head of the university.
