The acting Vice Chancellor of the Jawaharlal Nehru University, who earned criticism for suggesting installing a battle tank at the campus, has been appointed as chairman of the University Grants Commission.
Kumar, whose tenure at JNU was marred with controversies, is currently holding the charge as acting VC of the varsity after his tenure expired last year.
Jagadesh Kumar has been appointed the new UGC chairman,” a senior official of the Ministry of Education (MoE) confirmed. The post of the UGC chairman fell vacant on December 7 after Prof D P Singh, who had taken charge in 2018, resigned upon turning 65. The post of vice-chairman of the higher education regulator is also vacant. The Ministry is yet to appoint Kumar’s successor at JNU.
Prof Jagadesh Kumar’s detractors say the vice-chancellor, who took charge in January 2016, is implementing the agenda of the RSS and has been brought in by the Union government specifically for this purpose. However, he has repeatedly disavowed associations with any organisation. In November 2017, he invited spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar to deliver the prestigious Nehru Memorial Lecture. In July 2018, during a ceremony to commemorate the Kargil victory, the vice-chancellor spoke about installing a battle tank on campus to instil patriotic values in students.
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