Shanta demands immediate removal of VC of Himachal Agri University

Dharamsala, February 6, 2015: BJP MP from Kangra and ex-CM of Himachal Pradesh, Shanta Kumar has written to Governor of Himachal to send Dr KK Katoch, (Vice-Chancellor of CSK HP Agriculture University (CSK HPAU), Palampur on leave till he is cleared by any kind of probe. He alleged that the said VC had got this prestigious post by producing false documents. Shanta said, “Dr.Katoach has never written any of 6 books, which he claimed to be an author and produced this false fact to grab this post.” 

Shanta claimed that he himself had checked the papers of Dr. Katoach. 

Shanta said, “It is a big academic fraud, and CM Himachal is also a party in it as he(CM) is one of the appointing authority to this post.” 

He asked the Governor of Himachal for an independent inquiry in this regard.

Shanta said, “Time has come when government of India should revive ruled pertaining to the appointments of VC’s in the different universities of the country.”

Last month Himanshu Mishra, an Advocate of Palampur, in his complaint addressed to Prime Minister had alleged that VC Dr KK Katoch submitted a wrong bio-data before, then Chancellor Urmila Singh, while applying for the post of VC in 2013 and on the basis of this, the Chancellor cleared his name and he was appointed as the VC. In his complaint Mishra said Katoch in his bio-data at serial number 17 to 24 had claimed that he had authored articles in the journals of Indian Society for Soil Sciences in 1983 and a book “Kheti of ICAR” in 1984, 1985 and 1986, but these articles never appeared in these journals.

Dr Katoch also claimed to have written eight books, whereas in six books, he was just a patron and neither the author nor a publisher. The actual authors were Dr NN Angras, Dr Kushal Singh Rana and other working scientists of the university.

Misra had filed a similar complaint to Chancellor Urmila Singh in 2013, but no action was taken.

Later, he approached the PM Narendra Modi , who forwarded his complaint to the Principal Secretary, Home, who asked the DGP Himachal Pradesh to conduct fair and impartial inquiry.

Himansu said he had collected the entire information under the Right to Information Act. He said he on the basis of facts supplied to him by various department of the university had filed a complaint to the Chancellor and later to Prime Minister of India.

Meanwhile, Dr KK Katoch was not available for any comment.