Patna: Forget campus politics and academic rivalries for a moment. The hottest race in Bihar’s universities right now appears to be for the vice-chancellor’s chair—with a staggering 8,000 aspirants throwing their hats into the ring for just 10 posts.Governor-cum-chancellor Syed Ata Hasnain told TOI on Wednesday that around 8,000 online applications have been received through the Samarth portal for the appointment of VCs in 10 state universities. The response, he said, was far greater than expected, with applications pouring in from across the country.The sheer number has created an unusual situation: The challenge is no longer to find candidates, but to identify the right candidates from a crowd of thousands.The selection process will begin with four universities currently without full-fledged VCs—Magadh University, Veer Kunwar Singh University, Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur University and Maulana Mazharul Haque Arabic and Persian University.The remaining six universities, which presently have regular VCs, will be taken up subsequently.The scale of the response is striking when compared with the past. In 2013, more than 3,000 applications had been received for VC and pro-VC posts in 11 universities. This time, the number has soared to about 8,000.Hasnain said the appointment process would be conducted through a completely fair and transparent mechanism.
