Pondicherry Central University gets new vice chancellor

Puducherry: Gurmeet Singh, professor of the department of chemistry, Delhi University, has been appointed as the new vice-chancellor of Pondicherry Central University. A press release from the ministry of human resource development (MHRD) said that President Ram Nath Kovind appointed Prof. Singh for a period of five years from the date of assuming office or until he attains the age of 70 which is earlier.

Prof. Singh did his PG and PhD from the Delhi University. He has 33 years of teaching experience and has administrative experience in Delhi University, where he worked as the proctor. He has published around 100 research articles and guided numerable students in the field of chemistry.  He had held several positions including member of the executive council of Delhi University, deputy proctor and proctor of the university, a member of the subject expert committee of University Grants Commission (UGC) among others.

He is also a Governing Council member of the Society for Advancement of Electrochemical Science and Technology (SAEST) at CECRI campus, Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu and was appointed as a special observer in West Bengal assembly election in 2011. He had received several awards and honours for his contribution in the field, including ‘Meritorious contribution award’ during the 14th conference of  the National Association of Corrosion Engineers (NACE), USA and Annapurna award by SAEST.

The post of vice-chancellor of the University fell vacant on August 17, 2015 — more than two years ago after Chandra Krishnamurthy, the former vice-chancellor was sacked by MHRD on charges of plagiarism and fraud. The university faced many downhill experiences since then including MHRD declaring Pondicherry University as among the 11 “non-performing” universities, in the rankings by the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF). The MHRD decision comes after much pressure from faculty members and students of the university who raised concerns over the absence of a permanent vice-chancellor and other administrative staff.