A new role

Updated on: Saturday, September 24, 2011

“I will try my level best to do whatever good I can within the limited period I have," said Bureaucrat Sanjay Chahande, as he took charge as the acting vice-chancellor (VC) of the University of Pune (UoP).

Chahande, a 1988 batch IAS officer, and director general of the Yashwantrao Chavan Academy of Development Administration (Yashada), the state's premier training institution for IAS officers, since moving to Pune in March.

He has held several key government postings, but to head one of the largest state universities, with 600-plus affiliated colleges spread over Pune, Ahmednagar and Nashik districts, poses a different challenge. "This is a new area for me. I have had different postings in 22 years of service, but I see this as a good learning opportunity," he said.

"My first priority will be to learn and understand the university system. Continuity is an important aspect and we will try to maintain all those good initiatives which have been set on the roll by my predecessor," said Chahande, who is an MBBS graduate from Government Medical College, Nagpur.

"I have an enormous experience of being a student," he said while citing his stints at the prestigious London School of Economics and Political Science, where he did his MSc (Sociology), and at the Syracuse University in New York, US, where he did a Masters in Public Administration, he added.

A new role

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