PATNA: Believe it or not, but the fact is that the aspirants for the posts of VCs and pro-VCs are now busy brushing up their general knowledge before facing the interview at Raj Bhavan. With the search committees constituted for different universities consisting of eminent academics, the candidates may be asked searching questions. As such, they don't want to take any chances.
Some aspirants were seen discussing current topics like economic recession, inflation, climate change, global warming and the recent Phailin cyclone on the Patna University campus.
The aspirants, who had prepared their vision document with the help of information available on the Internet, are again surfing Internet to acquire detailed knowledge on the administration and governance of universities and also on revamping the higher education system. Some overenthusiasts are also consulting university law books to apprise themselves with the latest amendments in the university Acts and statutes. Some private coaching institutions are said to be planning to start some sort of a crash course on personality development for the VCs' aspirants.
Even as canvassing in any form has been declared as a disqualification, some candidates are said to be trying their best to approach the chairmen and members of the search committees.
Former member of Bihar Public Service Commission, Shiv Jatan Thakur has urged governor-cum-chancellor D Y Patil to conduct a written test for screening the applicants and testing their writing skill. Only the deserving candidates should be called for final interview, he said.
Meanwhile, most of the chairmen and members of different search committees arrived here on Thursday and also held a preliminary discussion on the mode of selection of candidates for appointment as VCs and pro-VCs. A detailed discussion is likely to be held on Friday.
