Osmania, nine other Telangana varisities to get new VCs within two days

Hyderabad: After establishing a full-fledged TS Public Service Commission (TSPSC) on Wednesday, Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao has now shifted his focus to state universities which were functioning without Vice-Chancellors for almost two years now.

He has cleared names of VCs for 10 universities and referred them to Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, the Chancellor of Universities, for approval, according to official sources. The universities include Osmania, Kakatiya, Telangana, Satavahana, Palamuru, Mahatma Gandhi, JNTU-Hyderabad, Telugu University, Ambedkar Open University and JNAFAU-Hyderabad.

Following the Governor's nod, the government will issue orders appointing VCs in a day or two.

Administrative and academic activities of all those varsities have been badly affected in the last two years. They could not fill teaching and non-teaching vacancies in the absence of regular VCs. A majority of the posts continue to remain vacant.

When the VCs of these 10 universities retired in July 2019, the state government appointed IAS officers as in-charge VCs, a decision that drew sharp criticism from academicians, teaching community, student unions and opposition parties. At one stage, even the Governor expressed displeasure over the inordinate delay and urged the government to expedite the process.

In the meanwhile, some petitions were filed in the High Court over the government's failure in appointing VCs. The court also rapped the government for the delay on various occasions.

The pace at which Chandrasekhar Rao is filling up vacancies and nominated posts in the government has raised hopes of disgruntled TRS leaders, who are eyeing them. TRS leaders, who failed to secure party tickets to contest Assembly and Lok Sabha polls and those who lost elections, are lobbying for a nominated posts in corporations.

Though Rao had promised to fill the vacancies several times earlier, it did not materialise due to successive elections since 2018 and subsequently the corona pandemic.