The current practice of the chief minister, and therefore the government, appointing the vicechancellors of universities virtually means that VCs could be selected for their "political clout" rather than their research and academic credentials.

The recent proposal of the Union ministry of human resource development that a collegium of experts and Nobel laureates be set up to select VCs so as to free the process from political interference, has been widely welcomed.

Currently, the governor in his capacity as chancellor appoints VCs based on the recommendations of a "search committee" comprising officials and academics. But it is an open secret that the final selection rests with the Chief Minister's Office, which zeroes in on the recommendations of the ministers, MLAs and other public representatives of the region concerned.

"The proposal mooted by the Centre was to set up a collegium of 30-40 experts from various fields, including Nobel laureates who will recommend names of VC candidates to the government for Central universities. Ideally, I would like the state government to come up with a similar system to appoint VCs to state universities," said Prof.  Nageshwar of Osmania University.

Most committees on higher education, like the Prof.  Yashpal Committee, have recommended freeing up the VC selection process from political interference. The National Knowledge Commission, which has the prime minister's backing, has also recommended that appointment of VCs should be freed from government control and peer review should factor significantly in these selections. "Normally, the VCs term is of three years. A majority of them are appointed primarily on factors such as their political affiliation, region, religion and caste but not on their academic and research credentials.

That will be reflected in their functioning as they naturally try to reap the benefits of power by resorting to irregularities within the short period of three years,"  said Prof. E.Vigneshwar Rao, a retired professor of JNTU-Hyderabad.

"A VC is not only an administrator, but also a teacher. They should focus on academic and research activities more than spending their entire tenure in activities such as making appointments and transfers," said Prof. Swarnalatha.