Dr Prashant Shridhar Bokare has been selected as the new Vice-Chancellor of the Gondwana University, Gadchiroli. Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, as Chancellor of State Universities, has made this appointment. Dr Bokare has been serving as the Professor and Dean of the School of Engineering at O P Jindal University, Raigarh, Chhattisrarh for last 3 years. Dr Prashant Bokare has been appointed as Vice-Chancellor for a term of 5 years. Dr Prashant Bokare obtained his degree in Civil Engineering from Sangli. He then completed his ME from Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology (VNIT), erstwhile VRCE Nagpur, and took Ph.D from Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati. He has extensive experience of teaching and research. Dr Bokare has served as the Professor and Dean at the BD Engineering College Sewagram, Wardha and further as Professor and Principal at the RSR Rungta College of Engineering and Technology. The Governor had constituted a Search Committee under the Chairmanship of Justice Dilip Bhosle, retired Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court for the selection of the Vice-Chancellor.

 

Prof Himanshu Rai, Director, IIM Indore and O P Gupta, Principal Secretary, Government of Maharashtra were members of the Committee. The Governor announced the name of Dr Bokare after interviewing the candidates recommended by the committee. The post of the Vice-Chancellor of the Gondwana University was lying vacant since the superannuation of Vice-Chancellor Dr Namdev Kalyankar on September 7 2020. Vice-Chancellor of the Kavikulaguru Kalidas Sanskrit University Prof Shrinivasa Varakhedi was given the responsibility as officiating Vice-Chancellor who did his job meticulously. In fact, during the visit of Higher and Technical Education Minister of Maharashtra Uday Samant, the exemplary work of Dr Varakhedi was much appreciated.

 

Minister had also asked other universities to take a leaf out of the book of Dr Varakhedi. Government had conducted the procedure of selection of new Vice-Chancellor. In the process Dr Rajendra Kumar Sharma, Research Chair Professor of ConsenSys AG, Switzerland was selected as new Vice Chancellor of Gondwana University on March 22, 2021. To everybody’s surprise, Dr Sharma did not take charge for the reasons best known to him. Government had to conduct the selection process again.