Darjeeling Hill University gets a Registrar and a Finance Officer, finally

The DHU was not functioning properly. For the past seven months even the online classes were not being held

EOI, DARJEELING, MARCH 8, 2024 : The West Bengal government has finally appointed a new Registrar and a Finance Officer for the Darjeeling Hills University, (according to notification issued by the Department of Higher Education. 

The DHU was not functioning properly. For the past seven months even the online classes were not being held. On January 25, students of the university held a protest in front of the ITI building at Mungpoo which is presently being used as the administrative building of the university. 

GTA chairman Anit Thapa had said that the reason behind the poor condition of the university was that the university did not have a Vice Chancellor. The notification issued on March 7 by the Higher Education Department stated that the tenure of the VC expired on June 23,2023.

“At present there is no Vice Chancellor of the said University and in the absence of a VC a temporary Registrar and a Finance Officer could also not be appointed causing hindrance in the functioning of the University,” the notification read. 

“Considering the urgency in this regard and to ensure smooth academic and administrative functioning of the University and also the interest of the students already admitted in the University, the State Government feels it necessary to appoint suitable persons to act as the Registrar and the Finance Officer,” the notification stated. 

Darjeeling Government College Associate Professor of Nepali Sujata Rani Rai as Registrar was asked to take over additional charge as Registrar of Darjeeling Hill University and Darjeeling Government College Assistant Professor of Economics was asked to act as Finance Officer, an additional charge, with immediate effect till the joining of regular VCs. 

Students of the DHU during their protest programme had said that online classes were going on till the second semester, with the third semester online classes not having started. They had also demanded that the government should not only restart the online classes but also the functioning of the DHU at Mungpoo. 

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee had laid the foundation stone ofthe University on September 5, 2018, at Joghighat from Chowrasta, with sources saying that the fencing work of the boundary was yet to be completed.