Visva Bharati Recruitment: Complaint to PM alleges DR selection records destroyed; varsity says ‘ridiculous’

Visva Bharati Recruitment: The controversy over the recruitment of a deputy registrar at Visva-Bharati has intensified after an anonymous complaint alleged irregularities in the selection process and that recruitment-related records were ordered to be destroyed – a charge the university has dismissed as “patently false and ridiculous”. The fresh allegations have also triggered criticism from the Visva-Bharati University Faculty Association (VBUFA) and former vice chancellor Bidyut Chakrabarty.

The anonymous complaint, emailed on July 4 to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was also marked to the President of India, the union education minister, the University Grants Commission (UGC), the governor of West Bengal, and the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC).

According to the complaint, officials in the university's examination section were allegedly instructed on July 3 to destroy answer scripts and other records connected with the deputy registrar’s recruitment. “The answer scripts and other documents …were intentionally destroyed in violation of established government rules,” the letter read.

The complainant alleged that some employees objected to the directive, arguing that destruction of official records would violate service rules and could expose them to legal consequences. The complainant has sought preservation of all recruitment-related documents and an independent inquiry into the matter.

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Visva Bharati Recruitment: Deputy registrar row

A university employee, who spoke to Careers360 on condition of anonymity, said investigators should examine the CCTV footage from the examination section for the period referred to in the complaint. "The CCTV recordings should be studied for the time mentioned by the complainant. I know that answer scripts were destroyed during that period using the grader machine," the employee alleged. The employee added that if the university maintains that the answer scripts were not destroyed, "then those scripts should be made public”.

Visva Bharati has rejected the allegations. The statement issued by the university’s in-charge, public relations, said: “It has been reported in certain newspapers today (i.e 05.07.2026) that an allegation has been levelled via an anonymous email against Visva Bharati that the answer scripts and other records related to the recent examination of Assistant Registrar / Deputy Registrar posts were destroyed by the Visva Bharati authority. This is, of course, a patently false and ridiculous allegation. All such records are kept in safe custody in sealed conditions. Such allegations made by unknown elements are intentional, baseless and possibly indicative of a criminal of criminal malfeasance. Visva-Bharati – as an institution under the government of India – maintains government approved public record management procedures for retention and destruction of records. Visva-Bharati condemns such an act of misaligning the institutional integrity and affirms its commitment to transparency. Further, Visva-Bharati is considering reporting this act as cybercrime for immediate action against the people spreading such false information”.

The university has also requested the media to “desist from reportage based on anonymous emails”.

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Visva Bharati: Controversy since early 2026

The fresh allegations revive a dispute that began early this year when unsuccessful candidates questioned the transparency of the deputy registrar recruitment alleging irregularities in the publication of the merit list and the recruitment process. Visva-Bharati denied any wrongdoing at the time and maintained that the appointments were made in accordance with prescribed procedures. Subsequently, the National Commission for Scheduled Castes disposed of a complaint filed by a candidate after considering the university's submissions.

Meanwhile, the VC office issued a notice convening a meeting of selected university officials and faculty members on July 6 in the conference hall of the Central Library. The notice did not specify the agenda of the meeting.

A day before the scheduled meeting, the VBUFA wrote to the VC requesting that it be cancelled arguing that the meeting, convened without a published agenda, was not a meeting of any statutory body and that invitations had been extended selectively to certain faculty members. It also expressed concern over holding the meeting during the summer vacation and said the timing had created apprehension as several complaints relating to teaching and non-teaching recruitments were pending before different authorities.

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“Unusual scheduling of the meeting during summer vacation has created various apprehensions among the public, particularly when several complaints concerning recruitment processes, both teaching and non-teaching, have been filed before competent authorities in relation to appointments in the departments of bengali, english, history, and Sangit Bhavana. Complaints have also been lodged before the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST), which has likewise sought responses from the University authorities”.

Former VC Bidyut Chakrabarty , in a statement, described the allegations as "a disgrace" for an institution that represents Rabindranath Tagore's ideals. "The culprit should be booked and dealt with according to the law. The Vice-Chancellor, as the head of the institution, cannot abdicate his moral responsibility," he said.