M F AHMAD
Daltonganj, Sept 15: Nilamber Pitamber University has formed a fleet of 15 committees for its second convocation ceremony scheduled on October 14.
There is a jumbo-sized reception committee headed by Vice-Chancellor Dr Ram Lakhan Singh followed by Pro-Vice-Chancellor Dr Deep Narayan Yadav, financial advisor, deans and other officials.
According to sources, it is the largest committee, and it will be difficult for them to receive the chancellor all at once. Bouquets can be presented as soon as the VVIP steps off the helicopter, although the guard of honour is traditionally presented first. The police may make it challenging for many members of the reception committee to approach the VVIP at the Chiyanki airstrip.
According to sources, the guard of honour is presented shortly after the VVIP exits the helicopter, and within four to five minutes the administration transports them to the circuit house Daltonganj. The NPU has not yet announced which officials will be at the circuit house Daltonganj during the brief stay of the Chancellor and his entourage that comes a day earlier to the ceremony.
There is no committee for the Chiyanki airstrip where the Governor cum Chancellor Ramesh Bais will reach by state chopper. There would be pilots aboard the helicopter, but the NPU, which is hosting the event, does not have a formal committee to look after the pilots’ needs in terms of hospitality, snacks, tea, meals, etc.
Administrative sources said no NPU official has till date (read filing of this report today) found it fit to intimate them about the Governor cum Chancellor’s visit. They said the administration will get a minute-to-minute programme of the Governor straight from the Raj Bhavan secretariat.
“We don’t understand this kind of detachment of the NPU from the local administration on such matter,” the administrative sources added.
The civil and police administrations take control of the entire airstrip ground and receive the VVIP—the chancellor—which requires coordination with the administrations. However, of the 15 committees established, none is in charge of the Chiyanki airstrip, where the VVIP’s arrival and departure are of the utmost importance.
Only the media committee is the smallest of the committees, with only 4 members, and it is directed by Dr K C Jha, a former journalist who is now the proctor of this university. The reception committee has 12 members, the cultural committee has 11 and the refreshment committee has 9 members. Other well-meaning groups at NPU include the committees for gowns, degree preparation, protocol, souvenirs, stage management, and others.
Insiders among the student bodies hinted at “drawing the attention of the Chancellor towards the conditions of examination department, delay in results and results flawed dangerously by the outsourcing agency entrusted with the tabulation and preparation of the results.”
“The NPU examination department is a disaster and the Mahamahim will either be petitioned about it or, if our requests are not heard, we will rise to shout,” according to a student leader.
According to insiders, the students are equally prepared to express their sincere complaints, but nobody is quite sure when things will simply spiral out of control.
According to sources, the town police allegedly conducted a midnight ‘pick up’ of dubious individuals who could have been a potential threat to public tranquillity during the first convocation of this university, when the then-Chancellor Droupadi Murmu had visited.
NP University is trying very hard to make this second convocation a success while having its own inherent issues including the lack of enough working hands.
