BHUBANESWAR : A group of former vice-chancellors and professors of Utkal University on Friday met the Governor of Odisha and Chancellor of Universities Prof Ganeshi Lal seeking his intervention for withdrawal of the controversial Odisha Universities (Amendment) Act, 2020 and restoring autonomy of the universities.
Stating that the very purpose of universities has been to carry on higher education and research independently, they said autonomy has been the strength of universities across the world. The government should respect this and promote independence of universities in the interest of higher education and research, they said.
In a memorandum submitted to the Governor, the educationists said the National Education Policy calls for non-interference of the government in the affairs of universities but disregarding it, the Odisha government has gone ahead with framing the Odisha Universities (Amendment) Act, 2020 by overriding the Odisha Universities Act 1989 and violating the University Grants Commission (UGC) guidelines.
They said that if the government was worried about possible corruption and lack of transparency in recruitment and general functioning of some universities, there was a clear provision in the Odisha Universities Act,1989 for taking over the errant universities temporarily and setting things right.
Referring to the Supreme Court stay order on the amended Act for a period of three months, they urged the Chancellor of Universities to restrain the State government from going ahead with implementing the new law. Former VC of Utkal University Binayak Rath and former professor of philosophy Prafulla Mohapatra were part of the eight-member delegation.
The Supreme Court had stayed the Act on May 20 while hearing a petition filed by Ajit Kumar Mohanty, a retired professor of Jawaharlal Nehru University, challenging the Odisha High Court judgement on upholding the validity of the Act. A separate petition was filed by the UGC against the Orissa High Court order on the ground that the State law was in conflict with its regulations. The UGC regulations govern the minimum qualification of teachers, manner of appointment of vice-chancellors and other service conditions of teaching and non-teaching staff.