New Delhi: The Ministry of Education has requested President Ram Nath Kovind, who is also Delhi University’s Visitor, for an inquiry against DU Vice-Chancellor Yogesh Tyagi for alleged administrative lapses.
The request comes on the heels of the incident on 21 October, where Tyagi appointed a University Registrar and a pro-Vice Chancellor, despite being on medical leave.
The ministry then passed an order on 22 October nullifying Tyagi’s appointments. It noted that Tyagi did not have the authority to make the decisions since he was on medical leave and had to first submit a medical fitness certificate to the government before resuming office.
There were several meetings held by the ministry after that to deliberate the future course of action and officials have now decided to initiate an inquiry against Tyagi.
Confirming the development, a senior official in the ministry, who looks after central universities, said, “We have sent a file to the Visitor for his consideration.”
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Several complaints made against Tyagi in past
If the inquiry is approved by the President, Tyagi can be sent on leave till the investigation is concluded. The incumbent V-C is due to demit office by early 2021.
According to ministry sources, the 22 October incident is the latest in a series of complaints against Tyagi in the past.
“Teachers at DU have been consistently complaining to the ministry about the V-C, but the complaints are about his inaction. He does not act — on promotions, filling up vacancies and other administrative matters. So there was no basis for us to take action so far, but with the latest incident, we can do that,” said a source in the ministry.
A crisis in leadership emerged in DU on 21 October when Tyagi appointed Prof. P.C. Jha as the university registrar, signing a letter confirming his appointment.
This was on the same day that the university was supposed to hold an executive council (EC) meeting to decide on the permanent appointment of a registrar and a finance officer. The council went forward with the meeting and, in turn, appointed Vikash Gupta as registrar.
The council’s appointment did not go down well with Tyagi, and a day later, he appointed Geeta Bhatt, associate professor at Bhaskaracharya College of Applied Sciences, to replace Joshi as the acting pro-VC. The idea was to nullify Joshi’s decisions.
On the same evening, the ministry passed an order nullifying the two appointments.
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