New Delhi: A former bureaucrat from the state is likely to be the first Vice-Chancellor of the Central University of Jammu. However, the thus-appointed Vice-Chancellor will serve in the interim as the administrative head until the Search and Selection Committee, which President Pratibha Patil constituted in her capacity as the Visitor of the University, makes the final selection of the Vice-Chancellor, which is going to take some time.

The appointment of a former state bureaucrat as the inaugural Vice-Chancellor of the troubled varsity is already been recommended to the President by the Ministry of Human Resource Development. The academic session has also been delayed inordinately on account of administrative problems.

The HRD Ministry's recommendation is awaiting the nod of the President, who is currently on a visit to Seoul and Mongolia. The Central University of Jammu was born out of a political agitation after the Centre announced a varsity for Kashmir. Subsequently, the process of the appointment of its Vice-Chancellor remained mired in controversies, with Jammu-based outfits repeatedly petitioning the government to appoint a Dogra as the Vice-Chancellor. They opposed the appointment of Prof Mattoo, a Kashmiri Pandit, who eventually refused to take charge.

The new Vice-Chancellor, the HRD Ministry has suggested in the panel sent to the President, is learnt to be from Jammu. Once appointed, the first Vice-Chancellor, though part of the interim arrangement, will have sufficient tenure to set up and build the institution. But there will be an understanding that he will not get another term.