The seemingly invincible office of the State Governor has come under vicious shadow of a questionable act. There are evidences of anomalies and discrepancies committed at the behest of the Babus aiding and advising the then Governor MC Bhandare.
The selection procedure for the office of the Vice-Chancellor of the prestigious OUAT (Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology) smells fishy on more than one ground, although more than a year and half elapsed in the meanwhile. Intellectuals believe that the world of truth is white and any foul play must come to the fore one day. That is what has exactly happened in the OUAT case.
As per the convention and practice, the Governor in his capacity as university Chancellor has to interact with the panel of prospective candidates sponsored by the State Government and the ICAR (Indian Council of Agricultural Research) and so did Bhandare on December 21, 2012 with nine candidates.
As convention would have it, a candidate ought to summit a vision plan on the spur of interaction with the Chancellor, thereby laying down a roadmap of academic enterprises for scrutiny by the Chancellor. It is confirmed from RTI (Right to Information) sources that the present incumbent OUAT VC drew a blank before the Chancellor as he had no such meaningful plans in the offing.
The bureaucrats in the Raj Bhavan woke up from their slumber when on March 8, 2013 a note-sheet was submitted showing the performances of nine candidates instead of the six bona-fide candidates shortlisted on December 24, 2012 after interaction with the Chancellor. One wonders as to why elimination and addition of the candidates continued on the whims of the Babus, who obviously wanted to confuse and obliterate facts and figures to the Governor.
When the much-awaited selection of VC was in the anguishing oscillation of waiting, the name of the succeeding Governor was announced by the Government of India on March 9, 2013. It was known from a Raj Bhavan source that the outgoing Governor was to lay down his office on March 16, 2013. The report was also published in local and national dailies.
According to sources, the outgoing Governor was accorded a hearty farewell by members of the staff and officers on March 16 wherein Bhandare regretted about some file remaining pending which would be done by his successor. Newspapers had also reported the matter on March 17.Intriguingly, scarcely an hour before receiving his guard of honour on March 17, the outgoing Governor signed the file of the appointment of OUAT VC.
After the appointment of the VC under such circumstances, an RTI activist sought for the reason of rejection of eight otherwise bona-fide candidates, but no logic or reason for their rejection was supplied on the plea that no files in the Raj Bhavan are available to the effect.Many scientists and intellectuals believe that the selection of the OUAT VC in “hot haste” should come under review.