Patna: Governor-cum-chancellor Syed Ata Hasnain on Monday asked the vice-chancellors (VCs) of all state universities to work independently without any pressure or prejudice and take decisions based on their own experience and ground realities.Addressing his first meeting with the VCs at Lok Bhavan here, Hasnain said he was not going to be influenced by anyone. “I have retired from the Army and not from my principles. I would never make any phone call to any VC seeking favour and if anyone gets such a call from my office any time, one must verify it from me directly,” he said. Education minister Sunil Kumar was also present at the meeting.Underlining the role of VCs as academic leaders, the chancellor said the VCs should act as competent, powerful and confident leaders of their respective universities and try to resolve all the problems of the varsities on their own. They are competent enough to solve any academic or administrative problem of the universities, he said.“Don’t come to me with problems. Come to me with solutions of the problems in the best academic interest. Come to me with well-planned roadmaps for development of your university,” he told the VCs.He directed the VCs to maintain the regularity of admission, teaching and examination works. They should ensure that examinations are held on time, results are published within a time frame and degrees are awarded to the students without any delay. He said unwarranted delay in these activities creates an adverse impact on the careers of students.Hasnain emphasised the need of establishing the department of journalism and mass communications in the universities so that the remarkable achievements of the state in different fields during the last two decades might be well communicated to the people outside the state. He further suggested that the VCs must have faith in their colleagues and work with mutual understanding and help create a positive work environment.The education minister, in his address, apprised the chancellor of the works being done by the education department for the betterment of higher education and pointed out that the state was on the fourth position in the country in matters of expenditure on higher education. Governor’s principal secretary R L Chongthus, education department’s secretary Rajiv Roshan, higher education director N K Agrawal, and Bihar State University Service Commission’s chairman Girish Kumar Chuadhary also participated in the deliberations.
