Current, ex-pro VC among five names in running for NU VC post

Nagpur: The pro-vice chancellor of Nagpur University and his predecessor are among five who received emails from the chancellor’s office for interviews for the VC’s post. The interviews are slated for August 7 at different time slots, where they would be directly interacting with chancellor Bhagat Singh Koshiyari.
NU officials said NU pro-VC (officiating) Subhash Chaudhary, former pro-VC Vinayak Deshpande and former pro VC of Swami Ramanand Tirth University in Nanded Ganeshchandra Shinde, are among five candidates who received the email from Raj Bhavan.
There’s still confusion over two other candidates as the names have been kept confidential. However, the names of Government College of Engineering, Karad, principal Prakash Khodke, professor at Department of Chemical Engineering, Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai, Sunil Bhagwat, and professor at Department of Defence and Strategic Studies in Pune University Vijay Khare are doing the rounds.
These five were selected by a search panel that had interviewed 30 candidates on July 30 and 31. Next day, the members led by former chief justice of Allahabad high court Dilip Bhosale submitted five names to the chancellor in a sealed envelope for interviews.
Many from NU had applied for the post, but only two could make it to top five, said sources. The aspirants included two deans, director of NU conducted college, former director of Internal Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC), three professors from NU’s postgraduate departments and a couple of principals.
As per NU officials, the fight for top post would be between Chaudhari and Deshpande, on account of their past experience and other factors. Even political affiliation matters in such postings sometimes. Since the chancellor is from the BJP, those having strong connections with party seniors may get preference. Among all, Shinde is most experienced as he was shortlisted for VC’s post at various universities six times, officials said.
Chief secretary Sanjay Chahande along with Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur, chairman Abhay Karandikar (nominated by NU’s management and academic councils), and NU’s deputy registrar Wasim Ahmed, working as liaison officer, were other members of the search panel.