Mylarappa appointed BU Registrar

Updated on: Friday, November 04, 2011

In a rapid turn of events, controversial academic Chikkamelurappa alias B.C. Mylarappa, took over as Registrar (Administration) of Bangalore University (BU) here on Wednesday.

Prof. Mylarappa, who was Chairperson of the Sociology Department, replaced R.M. Ranganath, who will now go back to his parent department – Botany. Only two days ago, Vice-Chancellor N. Prabhu Dev had reiterated that Mr. Ranganath would continue in his post. In-charge Registrar N. Rangaswamy has been appointed in-charge Finance Officer.

Prof. Mylarappa is the first Registrar of BU belonging to the Scheduled Caste category, and also one of the youngest (46). But he maintained that he would refrain from participating in caste-politics and said: “BU is one of the biggest universities, and 80 per cent of the students belong to socially and economically backward backgrounds. My aim is to provide good education to them.” When asked what the first thing he would do in his capacity as Registrar, he said he would upgrade the civic amenities and infrastructure on the campus. “There is a lot of backlog too — the Kolar Postgraduate Centre, promotions of teaching and non-teaching staff — so I have a lot of work ahead,” he said. He also said he had a long association with BU — he was a student, professor and director of the distance education department.

‘All is well’

Dr. Prabhu Dev was unavailable for comments. But he met the new Registrar after he reported for duty on Wednesday. “The VC is a good man and there are no problems between us. For me to fulfil my responsibility, his cooperation is very important,” said Prof. Mylarappa, rubbishing talks of differences between them.

Meanwhile, those who have continuously opposed Prof. Mylarappa termed the appointment unfortunate. The former academic council member L. Vasudeva Murthy went ahead and called the appointment “illegal”. Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Murthy said, “The appointment of Mr. Mylarappa is questionable, illegal and against the moral propriety of the State Government. A Registrar needs to have a good academic record, which Mr. Mylarappa does not have.”

‘All clear’

Meanwhile, Higher Education Minister V.S. Acharya said the appointment had been made as Prof. Mylarappa “is fully qualified, and has come clear in all the cases against him.”

Mylarappa appointed BU Registrar

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