Reappointment is a Big Opportunity for Prof. Yogesh Singh to Leave Verifiable Institutional Legacy

The hon’ble President of India, in her capacity as the Visitor of the University of Delhi has provided second term to the incumbent Vice Chancellor, Prof. Yogesh Singh. This is historically significant as the statute 11-F (4) of the University was modified in 2023, paving way for a consequent term to its Vice Chancellor, and institutionally, this is the first practical implementation of the amended statute. Before this amendment, an incumbent V.C. could not straightaway get reappointment.

Prof. Singh had joined the University on 8th October 2021 as its 23rd Vice Chancellor and accordingly his first term was to get over on 8th Oct. 2026, but the Government of India has notified his reappointment well in advance. The move of the government is significant in many ways. The foremost is the government’s approval of and reward for the functioning of Prof. Singh as an academic leader with vision and experience. Before joining the University of Delhi, Prof. Singh had steered a few other Universities as Director/Vice Chancellor – Netaji Subhash University of Technology, Delhi; Maharaja Sayajirao University, Vadodara and Delhi Technical University, Delhi. Fortunately, Prof. Singh came to D.U. at a time when the University was planning to celebrate its centenary through year-long programmes. This could have been a challenge for any newcomer, but Prof. Singh turned it into a mega opportunity by organising numerous academic and cultural programmes and events, bringing out publications and above all, making university work together as a team.

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That was also the time when promotions of teaching faculty, after a drought of around a decade, had already been started as per UGC Regulations 2018 by the interim Vice Chancellor, Prof. P.C. Joshi. However, they needed to be further streamlined to become a default practice. The University still worked majorly on the shoulders of temporary (ad-hoc and guest) faculties. The first big step was taken by Prof. Singh in creating a working plan to end the menace of ad-hocism in the University. Within a span of 2-3 years, recruitments were systematically conducted for more than 5000+ teaching positions, a commendable accomplishment by any university of the country (or probably globally).

However, the biggest feat was the smooth implementation of the NEP 2020 at the University of Delhi, a pioneering task in the country and an example of leading from the front. In 2022 Undergraduate Curriculum Framework-2022 (UGCF) was implemented followed by NEP-aligned overhauling for PG courses through PGCF. Infrastructure challenges were taken head-on with planning and implementation of many projects in the university, including a College in Dwarka named after Veer Savarkar and another one after Sushma Swaraj. Many infrastructure projects have been planned, and some are at various stages of implementation. Another term would provide sufficient time to complete them and reevaluate them, where necessary. These could be a few factors responsible for the Centre government’s decision of administrative continuity for a large university like the University of Delhi.

University of Delhi attracts attention of the country for its enormous size, catering to lakhs of students, geographical advantage, historicity and academic rigour and quality. The presence of its constituent colleges ranking as the top institutions of the country is also a significant point of awe. Its largesse combined with plurality and diversity make it one of the most talked about university in the country. As the prime minister of the country has provided a vision to make Viksit Bharat @ 2047, higher education institutions and particularly University of Delhi must play a crucial role in that. For that reason, the University must have a vision about its contribution in the country’s growth and the fulfilment of the vision. In the age of digital transformation, a clear framework is also required for responding to the needs and expectations of technology and artificial intelligence. These crucial years can be utilised for infrastructural and technological preparedness and to create partnerships. Moving beyond the celebrated colleges and supporting the less-advantaged colleges could also be a priority.

Prof. Singh has a long time till 2031 for planning and execution of many robust ideas. As a known visionary with the boldness to take initiatives and a rich experience of academic leadership will certainly provide him an edge to contribute meaningfully in a big way. If the first term of Prof. Singh majorly was for recruitment, promotions and implementation of the NEP, the second term should focus more on robust research environment in the university, decentralised governance and above all strengthening academic, administrative and financial structures.

The Government of India, the teaching fraternity and the country’s youth are looking towards the university with great expectations. The government has communicated its decision of Prof. Singh’s continuation without wasting a single day out of the mandatory ‘last-three-months restriction’. If it was not done so, Prof. Singh would have been restricted to do only routine and non-policy work till the date of the end of the first term. However, now the onus is on Prof. Singh to take this larger responsibility of leading the University till Oct. 2031 with a bigger vision and more dedication. It is certainly a colossal prospect for Prof. Singh personally to lead the historic university to pioneering heights and the University institutionally to be the University of the 21st century Bharat.

Prerna Malhotra teaches at the Department of English and is the Jt. Director of the Centre for Hindu Studies at the University of Delhi.