Four days after dissolution of Nalanda Mentors Group cum Governing Board, its second chancellor George Yeo also put in his papers on Friday protesting a “surprise” top administration reshuffle.
In a strongly-worded letter to President Pranab Mukherjee, also the visitor of the varsity, Yeo expressed surprise as to why he was “not even given a notice” before taking the decision. “When I was invited to take over the responsibility last year, I was repeatedly assured that the University would have autonomy. This appears not to be the case now,” he said in his resignation letter. Yeo’s resignation coincides with NU’s foundation day.
It may be recalled that Mukherjee on November 21 had dissolved NU’s founding Governing Body, comprising Nobel laureate Amartya Sen as well as Lord Meghnad Desai and Sugata Bose as its members, and consented for the constitution of a new Governing Board. NU’s founder vice chancellor Gopa Sabharwal was also asked to demit office in November 24, the last day of her extended term.
“The order of dissolving the Governing Board and creating a new one came as a complete surprise to me and to most members of the old Governing Board. I was neither involved in the preparation nor consulted beforehand,” Yeo said in his opening remarks.
At the time of his appointment in July 2015, Yeo said he was told that a new Governing Board would be formed under an amended Nalanda University Act. “For reasons not entirely clear to me, the Government of India has decided to form the new Governing Board with immediate effect before the Act is amended,” he said.
Yeo said, “Despite difficult circumstances, the university has made remarkable progress through the tireless effort of VC Gopa Sabharwal and her colleagues. However, the board’s decision to extend the VC’s tenure till the appointment of a new one was also overridden by the visitor.”
Bihar CM Nitish Kumar too expressed worry over the incident saying it has created an environment of uncertainty at the university. “Both Sen and Yeo have served the university well. NU has a historical and international, importance. The Centre should take positive steps to preserve and continue the institution’s glorious history and take necessary action in the issue to accelerate NU’s development,” Nitish said on Friday.
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