Due to conflict of interests between the ruling Congress and the UML, no member secretary has been appointed to the University Grants Commission for six months. The educational, administrative, financial regulation and monitoring body of universities, institutes, campuses and higher education institutions across the country has been without a member secretary (executive chief) since 26 December.

After the then education minister Vidya Bhattarai issued a procedure to appoint a member secretary only if he has at least a professor's academic qualification, the appointment process was rigged. She started the member secretary selection and recommendation process last January by inviting applications based on open competition.  The

process and the provision of at least professorial qualification was stopped after the political establishment including the top leaders of Congress, UML expressed their displeasure. Even Raghuji Pant, who was appointed Education Minister on 10 Baisakh, has not been able to select and recommend the member secretary.

The University Grants Commission Act provides for the appointment of member-secretaries by the Council of Ministers on the proposal of the Ministry of Education. The act only mentions that the person appointed by the government will be the member secretary. But from the past, the practice of appointing the professor to the said post has been going on.

The ruling Congress Chairman Sher Bahadur Deuba, Deputy Chairman Purna Bahadur Khadka and others expressed their dissatisfaction after putting in the procedure that they should be professors. Proceedings were issued in continuation of that,' says Bhattarai, Minister of Early Education. 

She said that even though there was pressure to create a procedure so that non-professors can be appointed, she refused. Bhattarai says that the appointment process was stopped after that. After the 4-year tenure of the then Member Secretary Shankar Bhandari ended in the last week of December, the Ministry of Education requested the application in accordance with the procedure in the second and last week of January. 

in which 26 professors have applied. A joint secretary of the Ministry of Education said that the person who was going to be appointed as a member secretary of the Congress and who was going to be appointed while determining the qualifications of the professor was deprived of the competition.

The then Education Minister Bhattarai complained that Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, his political advisers Vishnu Rimal, Deuba and Khadka were also pressuring him to appoint an associate professor. Bhim Prasad Subedi, the former chairman of the

commission, said that although there is no mandatory provision in the law to be a professor, according to the nature of the work, at least being a professor is suitable. If you want to follow the law, it is simple. Any person appointed by the government. In terms of dignity and nature of work, there is a practice of needing a professor," he said. "The Commission consists of the Secretary of Education, Secretary of Finance, members of the National Planning Commission, Vice-Chancellor, academicians. It is dignified and appropriate to have a highly qualified person to work on their team. Otherwise it can be uncomfortable.' 

Subedi was also appointed as an expert for member secretary selection and recommendation. He said that after receiving the application, the process was suddenly blocked, but they did not know the reason. The application was requested twice by extending the deadline. The process was suspended before those applications could be processed. I don't know why it stopped," he said.

Education Minister Pant said that the matter of appointment of member secretary is under discussion and the process will be started soon. "We are discussing whether to start a new process or move forward with the postponement," he said. They argue that anyone who understands higher education administration can be appointed as member secretary.

"There has always been a conflict of interest rather than being appointed as a professor of Tribhuvan University and regulating the academic, administrative and financial affairs of Tribhuvan University," said an employee of the Commission. In Tribhuvan University, there was a similar controversy during the appointment of the registrar last year regarding academic qualifications.

According to the Tertiary Act, associate professors are also appointed as registrars, after the criticism that only professors can apply, the selection and recommendation procedure has been released. The university has passed and implemented the procedure of giving preference to professors in the appointment of dean, campus head, department head, etc.

In the University Grants Commission Act, it is mentioned that the member secretary will be the executive head and do the daily administrative and financial management. When the post is vacant, Kedar Prasad Acharya, Head of the Planning Division, has been assigned the responsibility. The board, the highest body of the commission, has 11 members. Employees complained that the board itself has become ineffective when 5 members including the member secretary are vacant.

Vice-Chancellor, members from academics are also appointed by the Council of Ministers. The commission regulates and monitors 24 universities and about 1,500 campuses across the country. The subsidy provided by the government is also distributed by the commission. Conducting research programs along with grant distribution, uniformity in policies and rules, scholarships in higher education, capacity building for teachers are also done by the commission.