Bajpai is HPU VC

Shimla, May 20
It is Dr ADN Bajpai, Professor of Economics at Rani Durgavati University, Jabalpur, who has emerged as the final choice of the state government for being appointed as Vice-Chancellor of Himachal Pradesh University (HPU) while Dr KR Dhiman has been given a second term as VC of Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni.
Ending the long wait, Governor Urmila Singh, who is also the Chancellor of the university, today appointed Dr Bajpai as the new VC of HPU for three years. He will succeed Prof Sunil Kumar Gupta, who was also in the race for securing a second term and was holding the charge till the new appointment was made. The tenure of both Gupta and Dhiman had come to an end in the first week of April.
This brings to an end the hectic lobbying being indulged in by the aspirants, 59 of whom had sent in their applications for being made VC at HPU.
Even as there was speculation that some outsider with political clout could make it to the chair of VC, several professors from within the HPU campus were hopeful of getting a chance.
The select committee, headed by Chief Secretary Rajwant Sandhu, had met twice on May 6 and May 18 to screen the list of 59 contenders and forward a panel to the Governor, who is the Chancellor of the HPU.
They had forwarded a panel of four academicians, including Dr Bajpai, to the Governor on May 18. The other members of the committee included the Vice-Chancellor of the Central University and the Secretary to the Governor.
Born in Hardoi in 1956, Dr Bajpai headed the Department of Economics at Rani Durgavati University, Jabalpur. He has authored two books, including “Emerging Trends in Indian Economy”, and has been on the panel of several national and state level-bodies, including expert member of the Scientific and Technical Terminology Commission.