Dr N Prabhu Dev has been reportedly asked by the state government to quit as Bangalore University Vice-Chancellor and join the proposed Rural Health Education Mission under the Health Department as its head. However, there is no official confirmation on this yet. While Dr Prabhu Dev denied having received any such offer from the government, Health Minister Aravind Limbavali said, “The government order on Prabhu Dev’s new appointment will be issued soon.”
It is said that the government is determined to send Dr Prabhu Dev out of the university following controversies surrounding his administration and the animosity between him and Registrar (Administration) B C Mylarappa.
‘No such offer’
“I have no such offer to head any other body,” Dr Prabhu Dev said. When asked if he would complete his term, which ends February 2013, he said, “As of now, it looks like I will complete my term. This is a hypothetical question.”
According to Section 14(7) of the Karnataka State Universities (KSU) Act, 2000, the state government does not have the power to remove a Vice-Chancellor .
“The Vice-Chancellor shall not be removed from his office except by an order of the Chancellor passed on the ground of willful omission or refusal to carry out the provisions of this Act or for abuse of the powers vested in him and on the advice tendered by the State Government on consideration of the report of an inquiry ordered by it.”
If Dr Prabhu Dev leaves, he will be the third Vice- Chancellor of the Bangalore University to leave before completion of his term. The first one was H Narasimhaiah, who had to resign during his second term as Vice-Chancellor in 1977. The second one was H A Ranganath, who resigned as Vice-Chancellor in 2008 to assume charge as Director of the National Assessment and Accreditation Council.