The Ministry of Education said on Wednesday that President Ram Nath Kovind has suspended Delhi University Vice Chancellor Yogesh Tyagi with immediate effect and ordered an inquiry into allegations of dereliction of duties against him, reported ANI.
The president in his capacity as the visitor of the university has also set aside orders given or approved by Tyagi when he was absent on medical grounds. Professor PC Joshi has been appointed as the vice chancellor.
The incident came amid a row over the appointment that turned into a power struggle, according to NDTV. Tyagi has been on a leave since July 2 when he was admitted to All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi because of an emergency medical condition. The government had made Joshi in charge of the university on July 17, till Tyagi could resume office.
In a statement, the ministry said Tyagi had neither sought leave nor informed the executive council about his absence. “Further, he is not attending the meeting including the ‘Visitor’s Conference on Implementation of NEP 2020: Higher Education’ presided by Hon’ble President of India,” it said.
The ministry also claimed that an executive council meeting scheduled on October 10 for the appointment to various posts, including that of registrar and finance officer, was postponed on “verbal instructions” of the suspended vice chancellor.
“Moreover, on 21.10.2020 just before the Executive Council meeting, Tyagi appointed Professor PC Jha as the interim registrar while remaining in absence,” the education ministry said. It said that after the council did not approve the appointment and made its own, Tyagi made other parallel appointments. Tyagi had appointed Geeta Bhatt as the pro-vice chancellor of the university.
Apart from the appointment matter, the ministry said that Tyagi “failed to discharge his duties” as the vice chancellor as many key posts in the university remained vacant despite regular follow-ups.
The ministry further alleged that several complaints of vigilance and sexual harassment were also pending for more than two years, despite a follow-up. “Administrative negligence came to the fore in handling matter of ad-hoc teachers resulting in huge agitation of teachers fraternity across the colleges causing inconvenience and loss of teaching and learning days,” it added.
These have led to “misgovernance” and malfunctioning of the university. “This is not conducive for appropriate academic as well as administrative functioning of the university,” the ministry said.
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