Bihar: Nitish, Governor lock horns over education dept funding

Raj Bhawan and Bihar education department has not been on the same page on various issues in the past also.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar File Photo | PTI

PATNA: Bihar education department on Thursday issued show cause notice to the state’s vice chancellors and other top officials of universities for not participating in a meeting convened by it and also threatened to stop the release of funds if they did not follow its direction.

In the show cause notice, the department also threatened penal action against the vice chancellors and university registrars if they refused to comply with its order.

Acting swiftly, Raj Bhawan convened an urgent meeting of the vice chancellors on Sunday. The department had already scheduled a two-day workshop for vice chancellors and other officials at the Chanakya National Law University (CNLU) in Patna from Saturday.

Raj Bhawan and Bihar education department has not been on the same page on various issues in the past also.

The latest stand-off between Raj Bhawan and education department was triggered when the department’s higher education director convened a meeting of vice chancellors and other top officials to discuss the issue of late sessions of universities. The meeting, which was supposed to be held on Wednesday, was to be presided by the director.