Hyderabad: Prof. Nagalapalli Naga Raju assumed charge as Vice Chancellor of The English and Foreign Languages University (Eflu) on Monday, with interim VC Prof. Haribandi Lakshmi handing over charge. “National priorities and perspectives shall take precedence to build a strong university,” said Prof. Naga Raju after assuming office. His tenure follows years of experience in academic leadership, including four years as VC of Gangadhar Meher University in Odisha. He has held professorial positions at the Central University of Karnataka and Rajiv Gandhi Central University in Arunachal Pradesh, in addition to serving as an academic adviser at Adikavi Nannaya University and a visiting faculty member at Sri Satya Sai University. His academic contributions span English literature, eco and indigenous literatures, poetry, and postcolonial studies.His appointment comes after a period of prolonged student protests, administrative challenges, and allegations of suppression of dissent at EFLU. Especially in October 2023 protests escalated. Students protested following the alleged sexual assault of a female student on campus, and demanded the resignation of then Vice Chancellor E. Suresh Kumar and the Proctorial Board. By November, the situation further into a hunger strike, with students detained after police intervention.Suresh Kumar held the post since 2017, and his term officially ended in June 2022, but he remained in office through extensions. He finally stepped down on January 1 by citing personal reasons. His extension had been widely opposed, with critics arguing that his tenure was shaped by political interference and efforts to align the university with the Centre’s agenda.Following his resignation, Pro VC Prof. Surabhi Bharati from the department of linguistics and phonetics took over as interim VC.A faculty member, speaking anonymously, remarked, “We can only hope for the better, but that does not change the immense control the Centre has over universities. This has been ongoing for a while and across various parts of the country.”
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