Barot appointed Gujarat Vidyapeeth Vice-Chancellor


The Gujarat Vidyapeeth on Tuesday appointed 77-year-old Navinchandra Barot as its seventh vice-chancellor. The deemed university was doing without a vice-chancellor ever since its last vice-chancellor Dr Sushila Nayyar passed away in January this year.

The 22-member Gujarat Vidyapeeth Mandal met earlier in the day to fill in the vacancy and elected Mr. Barot unanimously. "Although Majoor Mahajan Sangh’s leader Navin Chandra Barot and Naval Shah, who both are members of the GUM, were the main contenders for the post of vice-chancellor, the mandal elected Barot as the new vice-chancellor after a unanimous decision," informed one of the officials concerned.

Barot’s association with the Gujarat Vidyapeeth dates back to 1975 when he became a permanent trustee of the deemed university. Gujarat Vidyapeeth’s list of illustrious vice-chancellors includes renowned national leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Morarji Desai, Ramlal Parikh and finally Dr. Nayyar, who served the post for the shortest period of time.

Dr. Nayyar was appointed as the vice-chancellor merely six months prior to her death on January 3. "Severe arguments and disagreement among the Gujarat Vidyapeeth’s trustees with regard to appointment of a vice-chancellor led to roping in of Dr. Nayyar from Vardha sometime in October 2000," sources close to the Vidyapeeth recalled.

A strict Gandhian, who adorns a Gandhi-topi, Barot took to freedom movement sometime in 1942 when he was a student. "After serving in various institutions, including the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, a famous state daily, he finally joined the MMS in 1947.

Since then he has fought for labour rights," informs an official close to Barot. At present, Barot is the state leader of MMS and the president of Rashtirya Majoor Sangh, which has as many as 75 labour bodies under it.

Republished from TheAsian Age