Six former MLAs from Uttarakhand have written to the Governor of Uttar Pradesh, to have Vinay Pathak’s deeds in various capacities in different universities investigated by the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation.
The Governor is the chancellor of the state’s universities and thus the authority to which all complaints against a VC go.
The former MLAs have listed the institutes where Pathak has worked in various tenurial capacities or has had an additional charge. Among these institutes are Uttarakhand Open University, Haldwani; Vardhwan Mahaveer Open University, Kota; Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj University, Kanpur, and Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Agra. He was VC of the university at Kanpur and officiating VC in Agra- where he allegedly asked for commissions and threatened the owners of a firm with unsavoury consequences. This led to an FIR and his arrest.
“He has been unscrupulous with crores of crores of rupees, conned, deceived with been corrupt…(performed) unethical acts.. (that) have hurt the reputation of the state”, wrote the former legislators.
Pathak is not the sole case it seems. Unhappiness with VCs in the state is not rare.
At Lucknow University, more than one senior teacher said that they had little faith in the Governor’s power to dispassionately listen to complaints. One head of the department said that many disgruntled elements from within the university are seeking redressal with other kinds of autonomous bodies such as the State Commission for Women because of the biased nature of the Governor.
At Gorakhpur, students of the Deen Dayal Upadhyay University are demanding the removal of VC, Dr. Rajesh Singh. The VC has been accused by staff members of acting arbitrarily and defying several of the university’s acts and statutes. He had introduced dozens of courses without curriculum, teaching staff and approval. He is also accused of harassing staff members and laundering money.
Before his appointment at Gorakhpur, Singh was the VC of a university in Bihar where also he was surrounded by numerous controversies.