After President's concerns, 21 DU colleges asked to appoint principals
What's the story
After the President's office expressed concerns over several DU colleges being run by 'acting' or 'officiating' heads for years, chairpersons of 21 colleges have been asked to appoint regular principals by July 15.
Interestingly, representatives of the colleges attributed the delay in appointment to conflicts between DU and the AAP government over the constitution of respective governing bodies (GBs) for colleges.
Here's more.
The meeting
The meeting was attended by several high-profile officials
The directive came at a meeting chaired by higher education secretary R Subrahmanyam.
It saw participation from UGC chairman D P Singh, DU vice-chancellor Yogesh Tyagi, and representatives of several colleges including Hindu College, Hansraj College, Jesus and Mary College, Delhi College of Arts and Commerce, among others.
The meeting was called by the HRD ministry after the President's office expressed concern over vacant principal posts.
The conflict
DU and AAP have been at loggerheads for a while
The problem stems from Ordinance XVIII, Clause 7, of the Delhi University Act, which dictates that principals of DU-affiliated colleges can only be appointed by each college's governing body.
Till recently, the AAP government and DU had been at loggerheads over the selection process of the GB in 28 DU-affiliated colleges.
The AAP government had accused DU of tampering with its nominee list.
Vacancies
Several colleges have been principal-less for eight years
Reportedly, the oldest vacancies are at Hansraj College and Vivekananda College, both of which have been without regular principals since 2009.
Meanwhile, the remaining colleges have been without regular principals for periods ranging from one to eight years.
Of the 21 colleges summoned, most are partially or fully state-funded, while Hansraj, Hindu, and the Jesus and Mary College are run by private trusts.