AMU Teachers Association warns of agitation over delay in appointing regular vice-chancellor

The university is functioning through an ad hoc arrangement under an acting vice-chancellor and it is seriously affecting the state of affairs

Aligarh: Aligarh Muslim University Teachers Association and a few former officer bearers have warned of launching an agitation if there is any further delay in appointing a regular vice-chancellor.

Pro Vice-Chancellor Mohammad Gulrez has been officiating as AMU’s vice-chancellor after Tariq Mansoor resigned from the post in April following his nomination as a member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council.

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Following a meeting of the office bearers here on Monday evening, the AMU Teachers Association, in a statement, said that it has been four months since Prof. Mansoor resigned from the post of vice-chancellor.

The university is functioning through an ad hoc arrangement under an acting vice-chancellor and it is seriously affecting the state of affairs at the premier institution of higher learning of the country, the teachers body said.

It announced that if the process of appointing a permanent vice-chancellor is delayed further, then they would have no option but to start an agitation.

The statement was also signed by former office bearers of the association.

Secretary of AMU Teachers’ Association Obaid Ahmad Siddique told reporters on Tuesday that teachers at the university are increasingly getting concerned that despite continued efforts, the protracted process of setting up a panel from which the next vice-chancellor will be selected has not yet started.

This unprecedented delay in appointing a permanent vice chancellor would cause long-term damage to the institution, he said.

The executive committee of the AMU Teachers Association has also sent a letter to pro vice-chancellor Prof. Mohammad Gulrez and alleged that the delay in appointing a new vice-chancellor could be “deliberate”.

The August 28 letter sought to know from Gulrez why has he not started the process of setting up a panel for selecting a vice-chancellor.