Bihar Raj Bhavan, on Sunday, March 3, wrote to banks asking to overrule an education department order that had frozen the accounts of state-run universities, barring one, a PTI report stated.
The standoff between the Raj Bhavan and the Education Department seemed to worsen with the authorities lodging a police complaint against at least one of the Vice-Chancellors on Sunday, March 3.
The Bihar government had ordered freezing of the bank accounts of all state-run universities, barring one, and withheld salaries of their vice-chancellors for allegedly being absent at a recent review meeting convened by the Education Department.
In a letter, Robert L Chongthu, Principal Secretary to the Governor who is also the Chancellor of state universities, directed the banks to de-freeze the accounts of the varsities immediately.
"The chancellor (governor) has ordered that the order of the education department stands withdrawn," said the Raj Bhavan letter.
The Education Department's letter to all VCs, except the vice-chancellor of Kameshwar Singh Darbhanga Sanskrit University, sought clarification for their absence from the meeting to discuss pending examinations and other issues, said PTI.
The letter warned that if satisfactory replies were not received within two days, FIRs would be lodged against the university authorities, and salaries of VCs would remain withheld.
Additionally, banks were instructed not to operate any account of the universities until further notice.
Meanwhile, Darbhanga District Education Officer Samar Bahadur Singh applied to the University Police station, seeking a police complaint against the VC of Lalit Narayan Mithila University, the examination controller, and other officials for failing to attend the recent meeting called by the Education Department.
Bihar Education Minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary could not be reached for comment on the issue, PTI added.
