Job applicants write to PM Modi alleging recruitment irregularities at Visva-Bharati

Allegations of irregularities in recruitment to non-academic and administrative permanent posts at Visva-Bharati University have been flagged through emails sent to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The complaints have also been addressed to the Ministry of Education and the University Grants Commission, according to university sources.

Visva-Bharati, founded by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore and located in the UNESCO World Heritage site of Shantiniketan in West Bengal’s Birbhum district, is the only central university where the Prime Minister serves as Chancellor. Job applicants have alleged that the final merit list for several non-academic posts was not uploaded on the university’s official website.

According to the complainants, appointment letters were instead issued through personal email IDs, allegedly bypassing the prescribed recruitment process. While appointment details for posts such as Registrar, Director of Studies, and Director of the Publication Division were made public, no information has been shared regarding the merit list for Deputy Registrar and Assistant Registrar (General) posts.

Applicants further claimed that although the written examination was conducted by the National Testing Agency as per Ministry of Education directions, preliminary results were not published on the agency’s website. They questioned how the university released the final professional merit list on October 27, 2025, and alleged that the process was legally flawed.

A senior university official, speaking on condition of anonymity, alleged that unlike the transparent recruitment processes during the tenure of former Vice-Chancellor Bidyut Chakrabarty, a group was now influencing appointments. The university administration, however, has denied the allegations, stating that all selections were made as per the April 17, 2023 recruitment notification and were approved by the Executive Council on December 5.