Kumar Rajiv Nayan
Ara: Fate of hundreds of students of Post- Graduate, Bhojpuri department, Veer Kuer Singh University (VKSU), Ara, hangs in balance and their degrees may be de-recognized as the university administration closed the department following a communication from the office of the Governor -cum-Chancellor. Seven PG departments : Bhojpuri, Prakrit, Philosophy, English, Sanskrit, Urdu and Persian are running for the last 25 years without approval from the office of the Governor cum Chancellor. The university holds examinations and awards degrees to students of these subjects.
As per the University Act, any PG department should have approval from the governor office before it starts functioning but the VKSU has been running seven PG courses without its approval. Several complaints were lodged with the governor regarding running of Bhojpuri PG department by the university and the governor took action only regarding this department.
The Bhojpuri department of the VKSU had no teacher and was run with the help of the teachers of the Hindi department. Besides, the VKSU administration appointed teachers in these departments without approval from the governor office and payment was also made to them. The VKSU administration made budget for the payment and other expenses of the teachers, employees and the departments respectfully every year and sent the proposal to the government and the UGC for grant. Surprisingly, the government and the UGC regularly sanctioned fund for
the payment and expenses of these departments too along with others.
Sources said that the Governor has asked all the state varsities to close such PG departments which are running without approval. A case had been filed in tatna High Court against running of Bhojpuri PG department without approval but the VKSU administration failed to reply as to on what basis the course was running without approval, sources added. On May 31, 2013, the governor’s office had asked the Vice Chancellor, VKSU, how the Bhojpuri PG
department was running without approval but he could not give a satisfactory reply. The governor’s office finally asked the VKSU authorities on July 15, 2016, to close the department immediately. VC VKSU Leela Chand Sah confirmed that the Bhojpuri PG department had been closed following the order from the governor’s office and said that the
VKSU has started proceeding for its approval. He said that the VKSU meets criteria for grant of approval to any PG department and the academic council of the VKSU had passed the proposal on July 5, 2016. He said the proposal would be sent to the governor office for approval after the syndicate passes it.