Amid failure of the recommendation committee to pick candidates for vice-chancellor (VC), Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has called a meeting of the Kathmandu University senate to resolve the impasse.

The senate, which is set to meet on Monday morning, will discuss the reasons why former vice-chancellor Suresh Raj Sharma-led panel could not accomplish its job to recommend three names for the position and find a way out, according to varsity officials. Led by the prime minister, the ex-officio chancellor of the university, the senate is the highest authority for policy decisions.

With Bhola Thapa, the university's VC retiring on January 19, the government on December 14, 2o24 had constituted a Sharma-led committee with former government secretary Janardan Nepal and Dr Arjun Karki, former VC of Patan Academy of Health Sciences, as members. However, 90 days have passed since its constitution, and it failed to submit the names ignoring Oli’s deadlines compelling him to call the senate. The senate on December 24, 2024 had authorised the selection panel to develop its working procedure.

“As the senate had authorised the committee to make the selection, the prime minister might have thought to take further decision from its meeting,” said Uddhab Pyakurel, associate professor and former spokesperson at the university. "I believe the senate will own up the duly prepared report of the committee and facilitate the appointment.”

After calling for applications twice, the selection committee on February 14 and 15, heard the shortlisted candidate’s plans and interviewed them. The Sharma-led panel is responsible for suggesting three names based on merit after evaluating their presentations and interviews.

Bal Chandra Luitel, Subodh Sharma and Achyut Wagle, all professors at the university, made it to the top three. But not Thapa. Yet Sharma seems intent on giving Thapa a second chance, which is not possible as per the selection procedure, according to the KU professors who have followed the process.

Sharma, the founder of the university, has been claiming that Thapa is the most suitable person to lead the university and maintain its legacy.

“The working procedure says a majority of the panel including the coordinator can make recommendations. As Thapa is not on the merit list, Sharma has been refusing to make a decision,” said a professor at the university.

The selections landed in controversy from the very beginning. Two weeks after its formation, the committee, on January 2, invited applications from aspirants for the KU executive head, setting PhD as the minimum qualification. The criteria met with criticism after the teachers under the university’s medical school said it was designed to exclude them as their highest degree is MD/MS, not PhD.

Of the 17 who applied, 16 professors with PhD were shortlisted in the first phase. The list too was contested as it included two of Sharma’s close relatives. The working procedure clearly states that member(s) of the selection committee cannot be in the team if their close relatives are applicants.

Medical faculty members not only objected to the criteria but also wrote to Prime Minister Oli, the university’s chancellor, requesting him to expand the eligibility criteria so they, too, could apply.

On January 18, during the university assembly, Oli instructed the officials to amend the procedure to accommodate medical faculty members in the application process.

The Sharma-led committee on January 31 reopened the application process, clearing hurdles for medical science teachers to apply. After a screening, 10 of the 20 were called for an interview and presentation.

Oli, as the chancellor, had issued two deadlines to the selection committee to recommend the names. Similarly, the Kathmandu University Professor Union (KUPA) also had issued an ultimatum for the recommendation. However, the selection panel failed to adhere, prompting the chancellor’s intervention.

Over the years, the appointments of KU vice-chancellors have been controversial.

Sharma, the founding vice-chancellor, worked for five full terms. He resigned in 2012 after completing two years of his sixth term.

The appointment of his successor was not smooth. There were allegations that Dr Ram Kantha Makaju was picked as Sharma’s successor on the condition that Morang’s Birat Medical College and Rupandehi’s Devdaha Medical College would get university affiliation. They were eventually allowed to conduct MBBS courses as an extended programme.

Makaju, who is credited with establishing Dhulikhel Hospital as one of the best community hospitals in the country, was given the university’s leadership despite questions over his working style.