14% of premier centrally-run institutions, including IITs, IIMs and Central Universities, running without permanent heads

The vacancies assume significance given that the union government is in the midst of implementing and rolling out reforms under the National Education Policy 2020. An interim or acting head of an institution usually stays away from taking any major administrative decisions. Standard practice dictates that the union government begins the search for a successor about six months before an incumbent head’s term ends

Also, a parliamentary committee recently made strong observations on the government not filling top posts in central universities. In its report on the Department of Higher Education’s demand for grants 2025-26, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education, Women, Children, Youth and Sports, headed by Congress MP Digvijaya Singh, noted: “The committee is deeply pained to know that as of December 2024, up to ten Central Universities are running without regular VCs…the Committee is deeply anguished by the failure to appoint leadership for these 10 higher education institutions and recommends that the Department (of higher education) should take necessary action in this regard expeditiously.”

When reached for a comment on the status of these 18 institutions and why permanent heads have not been appointed yet, a spokesperson for the MoE said that they are “under process” without wishing to say anything further.

For CUs, IITs, IIMs, NITs and IISERs, the union government controls appointments with final approval power. For instance, at IIMs, each institute’s Board of Governors must get the President’s (as Visitor) approval before appointing a Director. The IIT Council, headed by the Education Minister, appoints IIT Directors after Presidential approval. Similarly, NIT and IISER Directors are appointed by the President based on selection committee recommendations. For Central Universities established by Parliament, the President as Visitor appoints Vice-Chancellors from names recommended by selection committees.

Among the 23 IITs, Kharagpur and Hyderabad do not have regular directors. IIT Kharagpur has had a Director in-charge from late December 2024 onwards, while the term of the Director at IIT Hyderabad ended in August last year.

At IIM Calcutta, Saibal Chattopadhyay, a professor at the institute, was appointed Director in-charge by the Board of Governors in January 2024. Uttam Kumar Sarkar, who was appointed as Director in 2021, resigned in 2023, and he was followed by Sahadeb Sarkar who had a short stint of around two months, before Chattopadhyay was appointed.

Similarly, at IIM Lucknow, Professor Archana Shukla, who completed her five-year term as Director in April last year, was then appointed Director in-charge by the Board of Governors till a regular Director is appointed. Of the 21 IIMs, four – Calcutta, Lucknow, Shillong and Kashipur – are without regular directors.

The NITs in Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh, and Srinagar have Directors in -charge who took over in the second half of 2024. For NIT Uttarakhand, this was the second Director in-charge to take over just in that year.

Among the Central Universities – there are 48 under the Ministry of Education – Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) has had a particularly long stint without a regular V-C. While Professor Nageshwar Rao’s tenure ended in 2023, he was given a year’s extension. Prof Uma Kanjilal was then appointed as acting VC in July 2024.

Rajiv Gandhi University in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim University have also seen similar situations. Prof S.K. Nayak was appointed VC in-charge of Rajiv Gandhi University in October last year, and before him, Prof Saket Kushwaha held the post for six years, with an extended tenure lasting a year. While Sikkim University has had an officiating VC from August 2024 onwards, the tenure of the previous VC, which ended in 2023, had been extended by a year.

The current VC of the Central University of Gujarat, Rama Shanker Dubey, whose five-year term ended in November last year, is also on an extended tenure for a year or till the appointment of a new VC.