50 candidates in interview for VC posts

50 candidates in interview for VC posts 

3 DAILY SLOTS 

Many Serving, Ex-VCs’ Names Not On List 

Poulami.Roy@timesofindia.com 19.10.2024

Kolkata : The selection process for the vice-chancellor posts at three universities, including the University of Calcutta (CU), commenced on Friday. The search committee, appointed by the apex court and chaired by former Chief Justice of India U U Lalit, began interviewing shortlisted candidates for each university. A total of 17 candidates appeared for the interview for the post of the Calcutta University VC on Friday. In all, around 50 candidates were interviewed during the day. Apart from the CU VC’s post, candidates were interviewed for Sidho-KanhoBirsha University and South Dinajpur University. Names of several former and officiating VCs, who had applied for the posts, was not on the shortlist. They included CU’s officiating VC Santa Datta, who had applied only for the CU vicechancel lor’s post. She declined to comment on the matter. Former VC Debkumar Mukherjee, who applied at six universities including CU, expressed surprise at not being called either. Another former VC, who wished not to be named, found it difficult to accept that he couldn’t meet the required criteria after having served as a full-term permanent vicechancellor and being nominated by the search committee in the past. A higher education department official clarified that there was no intention to exclude them from the process. The shortlisting was based on a system where each expert submitted a list of 10 candidates, and those with the most common names received the highest professional score. 

The official emphasized that the highest level of confidentiality has been maintained, leaving no room for questioning the process. The interviews are being conducted in three daily slots — morning, afternoon, and evening — for 3 universities. The first phase, ending on Oct 28, will cover the shortlisted candidates for each university.