Mita Mukherjee

The Centre on Tuesday appointed agricultural scientist Probir Kumar Ghosh as the vice-chancellor of Visva-Bharati.

With the approval of the Visitor of the university, the President, the ministry of education issued an order on Tuesday that said Ghosh was appointed for five years from the date on which he would take charge, or until he attained the age of 70 years, whichever is earlier.

Ghosh 63 and an alumnus of Visva-Bharati did B.Sc in agriculture from the university, and took PhD in agronomy from GB Pant University of Agriculture and Technology. Pantnagar. Born in Kamarpur, Bengal, Ghosh is the former director and VC of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) National Institute of Biotic Stress Management, Raipur.

The appointment marks a significant development as the Central university had been functioning without a permanent VC for more than 15 months since the retirement of Bidyut Chakraborty.

Ghosh replaced Binoy Kumar Saren who was the officiating VC since August last year. The appointment of Ghosh was sent to the Visva-Bharati registrar by the ministry of education on Tuesday.

Ghosh’s appointment is significant also because it comes after the tenure of Chakraborty that was marked with multiple controversies. Chakraborty was subjected to sharp criticisms and a tussle between him and chief minister Mamata Banerjee followed after he accused Nobel Laureate economist Amartya Sen of possessing 1.38 acres land which the former VC said is excess of his legal entitlement.

Set up by Rabindranath Tagore at Bolpur, Santiniketan, Visva- Bharati is the only Central university in Bengal.

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