category
Dec 9, 2025
Tezpur University senior professor assumes charge as acting VC amid campus shutdown
National Herald
The week-long shutdown has paralysed all services and academic work on campus, forcing the cancellation of end-term exams
Tezpur University, which has remained closed for seven days, witnessed a dramatic shift on Friday when the senior-most professor on campus took charge as acting vice-chancellor. The move came suo motu in the early hours of the morning, following weeks of unrest and calls for the removal of Vice-Chancellor Shambhu Nath Singh.
The turbulence intensified after Prof. Singh convened a Board of Management (BoM) meeting on Thursday afternoon and subsequently appointed Mass Communication professor Joya Chakraborty as pro-vice-chancellor.
Chakraborty declined the offer, and the Tezpur University United Forum (TUUF), which has been leading the agitation, vowed to continue the indefinite shutdown. The campus has been shut since 29 November.
Protesters have been demanding Prof. Singh's ouster over allegations of corruption and maladministration. With no intervention from the Ministry of Education during the past weeks, the university community resolved late on Thursday to invoke provisions of the Tezpur University Act, 1993.
Under the Act, the senior-most faculty member, Prof. Dhruba Kumar Bhattacharya from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, assumed charge as acting VC. He has written to the Ministry of Education to apprise officials of the development, quoting relevant statutory clauses.
Faculty and student representatives say they were compelled to act after months of silence from the authorities. "We were waiting for something positive from the ministry, but it remained a mute spectator while the administration attempted to install a pro-VC," a senior professor said.
Protesters insist they will accept nothing short of Singh's removal, pointing out that the vice-chancellor has been absent from campus for nearly three months.
The indefinite shutdown has halted all services and academic activities. End-term examinations have been can
