UGC to get a new chief before the new year

NEW DELHI:The wait for the appointment of the chairperson of University Grants Commission is set to get over soon as the ministry of human resource development is going to announce the name by December 31, 2017.

According to sources in the MHRD, with the state elections over, the PMO is likely to give its nod for a candidate among those in the list in around a week’s time. The post was lying vacant since April 2017 after the retirement of professor Ved Prakash and the search-cum-selection committee submitted its recommendations in June 2017.

The ministry is also likely to announce the appointment of the vice-chairperson of the regulatory body by February 2018. There have been reports of scrapping of the committee led by yoga instructor H R Nagendra. Denying any such development, a senior HRD official said: “In fact the appointment (of chairman) is likely to be announced soon. Probably in another seven to 10 days."

Currently V S Chauhan is officiating as the chairperson. The term of the officiating chairperson ended in October but was further extended to December 31, 2017. The search committee forwarded some names in June this year, which according to sources, include Anil Sahasrabudhe, chairman of All India Council for Technical Education, Prof D P Singh, director, National Assessment and Accreditation Council, G C Tripathi, vice-chancellor of Banaras Hindu University and Yogesh Singh, vice-chancellor of Delhi Technological University. “D P Singh is the front runner according to the recommendation,” said a senior UGC official.