Telangana appoints IAS officers as in-charge VCs of 10 universities

Hyderabad, May (IANS) The Telangana government on Tuesday appointed senior IAS officers as in-charge Vice-Chancellors of 10 state universities.

The officials holding key posts in the government were appointed as the present Vice-Chancellors demitted their office on Tuesday.

As per the orders issued by the government, the in-charge Vice-Chancellors will hold these offices till regular Vice-Chancellors are appointed or till June 15, whichever is earlier.

Dana Kishore, Principal Secretary, Municipal Administration & Urban Development, has been appointed as in-charge Vice-Chancellor of Osmania University, Hyderabad and Burra Venkatesham, Principal Secretary, Education, as the in-charge VC of Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU), Hyderabad.

Karuna Vakati, Secretary, Women, Children, Disabled and Senior Citizens Department, has been appointed as the in-charge VC for Kakatiya University, Warangal, while S.A.M. Rizvi will look after the Dr B.R. Ambedkar Open University, Hyderabad, and Sandeep Kumar Sultania, Principal Secretary, Panchayat Raj and Rural Development, will head the Telangana University, Nizamabad.

Shailaja Ramaiyer, Principal Secretary, Tourism and Culture, is the in-charge VC for the Potti Sriramulu Telugu University, Hyderabad, and Naveen Mittal, Principal Secretary, Revenue, of the Mahatma Gandhi University, Nalgonda.

Surendra Mohan, Secretary, Mines and Geology Department, is the in-charge VC of Satavahana University, Karimnagar while Ahmed Nadeem, Principal Secretary, Planning, will head the Palamuru University, Mahabubnagar.

Jayesh Ranjan, Special Chief Secretary, ITE&C, is the in-charge Vice-Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru Architecture and Fine Arts University, Hyderabad.

The government has already invited applications for the posts of regular VCs and a total of 1,382 applications have been received from 312 teachers. Most of them applied for multiple universities. The government is likely to issue orders soon to constitute search committees to expedite the process of appointing regular Vice-Chancellors.

The Search Committees, which will comprise a representative from the university concerned, the University Grants Commission, and the State government, will go through the applications and recommend three names for each VC post. The Governor, who is the Chancellor of the State universities, will appoint the VC.

Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy had announced after assuming office in December last year that he would not keep the VC posts pending for years like the previous government.