Written Test For Shortlisted Vice-Chancellor Candidates Of Odisha Universities At Raj Bhavan

Bhubaneswar: Vice-chancellor aspirants in Odisha were asked to take a written test at the Raj Bhavan.

Sixteen senior professors, who were shortlisted for vice-chancellors’ post in six state universities, were invited to Raj Bhavan on Monday for an “interaction” with Governor Ganeshi Lal before the final selection, The Telegraph reported.

The Governor, whose wife Sushila Devi passed away the night before, did not meet them.

Instead, Ganeshi Lal’s secretary Pramod Kumar Meherda informed the VC aspirants they would have to take a written test.

“His (the governor’s) secretary came and gave us a piece of paper each with four questions. They asked us to write the answers in 45 minutes. Three officials were in the room while we wrote the answers. Then they asked us to go,” one of the candidates said on condition of anonymity.

The four questions asked were:

1. The universe is built on….
2. The role of the university to build the universe?
3. You have work experience. The style of working? The spirit of working?
4. If God appears before you and asks for a boon, what will you like to ask for?

The results were declared in the evening. VCs were being chosen for Utkal University, North Odisha University, Fakir Mohan University, Rama Devi Women’s University, Khalikot University and Gangadhar Meher University.

The move didn’t go down well with the candidates, with some academics describing it as humiliating.

“It was a joke. The written test was in bad taste. The officials were keeping an eye on us as though we would talk or something. If the chancellor was occupied elsewhere, the interaction could have happened another day,” a candidate was quoted as saying.