AMU VC justifies ‘wider’ consultation for appointing successor

Aligarh: Faced with criticism, AMU vice chancellor Lt General (retd) Zameer Uddin Shah on Tuesday sought to justify his unique initiative of seeking a "wider" consultations to appoint his successor, claiming that Executive Council members of the varsity only come up with the names of “their acquaintances.” The AMU VC is appointed after the Executive Council (EC) recommends five names. The names are sent to the AMU court, which short lists three names and forwards it to the President of India. Shah's comments came a day after TOI reported that he has written to all the Supreme Court judges, chairpersons of Union Public Service Commission and University Grants Commission, former vice-chancellors of AMU and all vice-chancellors of Central universities to recommend names for the post of AMU VC. This “unprecedented” move drew criticism from Vice President Hamid Ansari, who is also a former AMU VC. Ansari told Shah that the EC should constitute a search committee of eminent Muslims or eminent persons of the country and request it to suggest, within 30 days, a panel of five names for its consideration. “The executive council, in turn, should send this list to AMU court for further action, as per the relevant provision of the statutes of the university,” Ansari wrote in a letter to Shah. However, justifying his move, Shah told TOI “There has been no change. Only thing is that we went for a wider consultation. The names will be put to EC members. The matter was discussed in detail by the Council. It was decided not to change our unique method. There is no provision of forming search committee in our AMU Act and statutes so that could not happen. The panel will be decided by the EC and AMU Court.” Shah said that he wanted a “wider” consultation because the EC members, who come up with five names for the AMU VC selection, “only know their acquaintances.” “Is there any harm in giving them a wider choice?” he asked. Praising the Shah’s effort, an EC member said that the VC invited names not just from the outsiders but also from the EC members and university teachers. “I appreciate this approach because it is not confined to a few people,” said Hafiz Ilyas, a member of the EC.