Vice-Chancellor of Banaras Hindu University

The vice-chancellor of Banaras Hindu University (VC-BHU)^[5][6] is the chief administrator, and a full-time salaried officer of the Banaras Hindu University. The vice-chancellor derives their powers from sections 7(B) and 7(C) of the Banaras Hindu University Act (BHU Act) and from the statutes of the said act.^[7][8]

Vice-Chancellor of the Banaras Hindu University
Hindi: Kashi Hindu Vishvavidyaalay ke Kulpati
BHU Flag flies atop vice-chancellor's car and office
Style	The Hon'ble Vice-Chancellor[1][2]
Type	Vice-chancellor
Status	Chief Executive of the Banaras Hindu University
Abbreviation	VC-BHU
Member of	Executive Council, Academic Council, and Finance Committee of the Banaras Hindu University
Reports to	Executive Council, University Court, and President of India
Residence	Cochin House, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India[3]
Seat	Central Office, Banaras Hindu University
Nominator	Ministry of Education
Appointer	President of India (Visitor of the university)
Term length	Three years Second term of fresh appointment possible.
Constituting instrument	Banaras Hindu University Act of 1915
Formation	1 April 1916
First holder	Sir Sunder Lal
Deputy	The Rector of the Banaras Hindu University
Salary	₹210,000 (US$2,400) monthly. Excluding other allowances[4]
Website	Official website

Although the chancellor of Banaras Hindu University, preceding the vice-chancellor, is "head of the university" under the BHU Act, it is only a titular position.^[9] The vice-chancellor is the principal executive and principal academic officer of the university. She or he is the ex-officio chairperson of the Executive Council, the Academic Council, and the Finance Committee of the university.^[10]

Applications for the appointment of vice-chancellor of Banaras Hindu University are invited openly by the Ministry of Education, which shortlists candidates interviewed by its search committee.^[11] The shortlisted candidates are recommended to the president of India. Upon their satisfaction, the president appoints the vice-chancellor.^[4][12] Per the BHU Act, vice-chancellors of the university have a three-year tenure in the office. They are, however, eligible for a second term of appointment upon expiration of the first term with preferably not more than 67 years of age. ^[13] The maximum age for holding the office is 70 years.^[14] When a vice-chancellor leaves office by the means of retirement, resignation, death, or ill-health, the rector assumes the office as officiating vice-chancellor to avoid interregnum.^[15][6]

During the British Indian and Indian Dominion administration, the appointments were made by the Governor General.^[16]

There have been 28 vice-chancellors since the establishment of the university.^[17][15]

On 7 January 2025, Sudhir K. Jain retired as the 28th vice-chancellor of Banaras Hindu University. In place of him, Prof Sanjay Kumar (Rector, BHU) has been assigned the charge of the vacant chair, now acting as the Vice Chancellor (incharge). The finalized name of new VC of BHU is yet to be disclosed by the central government.

Chronological list

The vice-chancellors of Banaras Hindu University, in chronological order, are as follows:^[18]

Vice-Chancellors of Banaras Hindu University

No.	Image	Name	Period of office[18]		Remarks
1		Rai Bahadur Sir Sunder Lal CIE	1 April 1916	13 April 1918	Founding vice-chancellor[16] Sir Sunderlal Hospital in the university named after him[19]
2		Sir P.S. Sivaswami Iyer KCSI CIE	13 April 1918	8 May 1919	Presided as the vice-chancellor at university's first convocation[20]
3		Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya Bharat Ratna	29 November 1919	6 September 1938	Served for more than 19 years[21] Founder of the university[21]
4		Sir Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan Bharat Ratna	17 September 1939	16 January 1948	Served for more than 8 years[22] Went on to become the president of India[23]
5		Amarnath Jha Padma Bhushan	27 February 1948	5 December 1948	[24]
6		Pandit Govind Malaviya	6 December 1948	21 November 1951	Alumnus of the Banaras Hindu University[25] Youngest son of university founder Madan Mohan Malaviya[26]
7		Acharya Narendra Dev	6 December 1951	31 May 1954	[27][28][29]
8		Sir C. P. Ramaswami Iyer KCSI KCIE	1 July 1954	2 July 1956	[30][31]
9		Veni Shankar Jha Padma Bhushan	3 July 1956	16 April 1960	[32][33]
10		N. H. Bhagwati	16 April 1960	15 April 1966	[34]
11		Triguna Sen	9 October 1966	15 March 1967	[35]
12		A. C. Joshi	1 September 1967	31 July 1969	[36]
13		Kalu Lal Shrimali Padma Vibhushan	1 November 1969	31 January 1977	Alumnus of the Banaras Hindu University[37]
14		Moti Lal Dhar	2 February 1977	15 December 1977	First and only Kashmiri Pandit to hold this position[38]
15		Hari Narain Padma Shri	15 May 1978	14 May 1981	[39]
16		Iqbal Narain	19 October 1981	29 April 1985	[40]
17		R. P. Rastogi	30 April 1985	29 April 1991	[41]
18		C. S. Jha	1 May 1991	14 June 1993	[42]
19		D. N. Mishra	8 February 1994	27 June 1995	[43]
20		Hari Gautam	2 August 1995	25 August 1998	[44]
21		Y. C. Simhadri	31 August 1998	20 February 2002	[45]
22		Patcha Ramachandra Rao	20 February 2002	19 February 2005	Alumnus of the Banaras Hindu University[46]
23		Panjab Singh	3 May 2005	7 May 2008	[47]
24		D. P. Singh	8 May 2008	21 August 2011	India Today-Nielsen ranked the university best in India[48][49]
25		Lalji Singh Padma Shri, FNA, FASc	22 August 2011	21 August 2014	Alumnus of the Banaras Hindu University[50] Undertook various reforms in the university[51] Voluntarily received only a token salary of ₹ 1 per month[52][53]
26		Girish Chandra Tripathi	27 November 2014	26 November 2017	Banaras Hindu University women's rights protest during his tenure[54]
27		Rakesh Bhatnagar	28 March 2018	28 March 2021	[55]
28		Sudhir K. Jain Padma Shri	7 January 2022	7 January 2025	[18] NIRF ranking of the university dropped from third to sixth after five years [56][57]

Timeline

Central Registry in the university is the seat/office of the vice-chancellor.

Madan Mohan Malviya resigned as the vice-chancellor in 1939 due to poor health

Vice-chancellors of Banaras Hindu University v t e

See also

• List of Banaras Hindu University people

References

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