The University Grants Commission (UGC) is all set to get a new chairman, with individual presentations by six shortlisted candidates still underway. The selection of the UGC chairman has assumed significance as the new head will lead the UGC’s restructuring. “The final rounds of presentations by six shortlisted candidates for the post of UGC chairman, which started on 17 May this year, are likely to be over by the end of this month, after which the appointment will be done,” a source said.
After completion of the individual presentation rounds, a three-member search-cum-selection committee (SCSC) headed by the Vice-Chancellor (V-C) of Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana, Bengaluru, H.R. Nagendra, will select three candidates out of the total shortlisted aspirants and the names will to be forwarded to the Ministry of Human Resource Development for its final approval. The MHRD has the discretion to choose any one among the three finalists for the UGC chairman’s post.
According to sources, the six shortlisted names for the UGC head include All India Council for Technical Education chairman Anil Sahasrabudhe, National Assessment and Accreditation Council chief D.P. Singh, Banaras Hindu University Vice-Chancellor G.C. Tripathi, Delhi Technological University Vice-Chancellor Yogesh Singh, Rayalaseema University head Y. Narasimhulu and B.R. Ambedkar University of Social Sciences (Madhya Pradesh) Vice-Chancellor R.S. Kureel. The MHRD had constituted a three-member SCSC to search for a new UGC chairman after Ved Prakash completed his term on 3 April 2017.
The post of UGC vice-chairman is also vacant, and the commission is in the process of filling the vacancy. The MHRD has already constituted a separate search and selection committee for the appointment of the vice-chairman. However, the UGC chairman will be appointed first and appointment of the UGC vice-chairman will follow, sources confirmed.