HYDERABAD : Mocking its own rules regarding the selection of vice-chancellors, the state is yet to act on the files submitted by respective search committees for months due to ‘political reasons’.

The government amended the AP Universities Act last year, according powers to the Governor and Chancellor of Universities to select VCs from a panel of three names recommended by the respective search committees. Strangely, the government itself has reduced the chancellor’s role to that of a‘spectator’ by not sending the files to the Raj Bhavan.

Despite the search committees shortlisting names for the Osmania University, Dr BR Ambedkar Open University and the Telangana University a few months ago, the files got stuck at the Secretariat.

The government is now all set to scrap the search committees and reconstitute fresh ones as it is reportedly upset with the choice of shortlisted names.

Sources said that the minister for higher education, Mr Damodara Rajanarasimha, is upset with the OU search committee for short listing Prof. T. Tirupathi Rao, former VC of OU, again for the second term.

The CMO is unhappy with the BRAOU search committee for not shortlisting Prof.Venugopal Reddy.

With this, all the three files have been stuck at the Secretariat for months, resulting in an inordinate delay in the appointment of new VCs and adversely affecting daily activities in the universities. The search committees have shortlisted candidates by conducting interviews after issuing a nation-wide notification to call applications for VC posts for the first-time ever in the state.