Hyderabad, February 09: Governor and Chancellor of State Universities ESL Narasimhan means business. Delegates at the Vice-Chancellors’ Conference here on Monday realised that right at the inaugural and before lunch, were left red-faced rewinding his hard talk that ‘‘there are no free lunches.’’ In his first meeting with the vice-chancellors of State universities at the Jubilee Hall here, Narasimhan told them point blank that they needed to pull up the socks.
‘‘Autonomy doesn’t not mean that one can do whatever one wants and get away with it.
There is a grave need to improve quality of higher education in the State. Instead of delivering ceremonial speeches and coming up with catchy slogans, VCs should get into serious business,’’ he said, just after going through presentations made by some VCs about the ‘‘exponential growth of higher education’’ in the State! In his address, the Governor also ruled that the VCs submit quarterly reports to him with the help of the AP State Council of Higher Education (APSCHE). ‘‘Vice- Chancellors should get blessings from parents and students, not their curses,’’ he quipped, indirectly expressing his displeasure over the involvement of faculty members in agitations.
He also left some of the vice-chancellors in an embarrassing position, saying that they should not ‘‘wash their hands off… without performing their duties to the fullest potential.. it will prove to be the sin of your life.’’ Violation of duties would lead to a situation where VCs might have to face ‘‘serious consequences, ’ ’ Narasimhan warned.
APSCHE Chairman KC Reddy immediately agreed to appoint three committees to handle issues of academic calendar, quarterly reports including performance appraisals and educational infrastructure.
‘‘We have already convened a meeting with the vice-chancellors and the committees would be on their job as early as possible,’’ he told reporters after the conference.
–Agencies