Ranchi University is a public state university in

Ranchi Ranchi (; ) is the capital city and also the largest district by population of the Indian state of Jharkhand. Ranchi was the centre of the Jharkhand movement, which called for a separate state for the tribal regions of South Bihar, northern ...

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in East India, eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. It was established in 1960 by an Act of the

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

legislature. Ranchi University offers degrees in undergraduate, post-graduate, M.Phil. and doctorate programs. Campus of Ranchi University

History

Before the establishment of Ranchi University, all degree colleges of the present-day

(except Santhal Parganas) were affiliated to the Patna University. Ranchi University was established on 12 July 1960, as a teaching cum affiliating university. When the Ranchi University was first established, all degree colleges of present-day

came under its jurisdiction. Bishnudeo Narayan Singh was appointed as the first vice-chancellor of this university. In 1992, Vinoba Bhave University was created by bifurcating the Ranchi University, reducing its jurisdiction area by nearly half. In 2009, the university was further divided to create two more universities: – Nilamber Pitamber University,

Medininagar Medininagar, formerly Daltonganj, is a city and municipal corporation in Palamu district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Jharkhand. It is also the administrative headquarter of Palamu district and divisional headquarte ...

in January 2009, and Kolhan University, Chaibasa in August 2009. At present, Ranchi University has jurisdiction only over the colleges of the five districts of Jharkhand, namely, Ranchi, Gumla, Khunti, Simdega, and Lohardaga.

Organisation and administration

Governance

Like most state universities in India, the

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

of the university is the governor of the state - the Governor of Bihar until the inception of

on 15 November 2000 and the

Governor of Jharkhand The governor of Jharkhand is the nominal head of the India, Indian state of Jharkhand. The governor is appointed by the president of India. Though all official affairs of the state are administered and carried out in the name of the governor, t ...

since then. The chief executive of the university is the

Vice-Chancellor A vice-chancellor (commonly called a VC) serves as the chief executive of a university in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia, Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Kenya, other Commonwealth of Nati ...

Faculties and departments

Different departments of the Ranchi University was organized into three faculties. * Faculty of Science This faculty consists of the departments of Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Geology, Botany, and Zoology. * Faculty of Humanities This faculty consists of the departments of Bengali, English, Hindi, Sanskrit, Tribal & Regional Language, Urdu, and Philosophy. * Faculty of Social Sciences and Commerce This faculty consists of the departments of History, Geography, Anthropology, Political Science, Economics, Home Science, Psychology, Sociology, and Commerce.

Affiliations

Ranchi University is an affiliating university and has jurisdiction over the higher educational institutes of the five districts of

Ranchi district Ranchi district is the most populous district of Jharkhand state in eastern India. Ranchi, the capital of Jharkhand, is the district headquarters. History Iron slag, potsherds and iron tools have been found in the Chota Nagpur plateau dated to ...

Gumla district Gumla district is one of the twenty-four districts of Jharkhand state, India, and Gumla town is the administrative headquarters of this district. Etymology For centuries, the place was a meeting center for people from the hinterland who flocked ...

Khunti district Khunti district is one of the twenty-four districts in South Chotanagpur division of the Indian States and territories of India, state of Jharkhand. The district of Khunti was carved out of Ranchi district on 12 September 2007. , it is the second ...

, Simdega district and Lohardaga district. This university has 15 constituent colleges and 29 affiliate colleges under its jurisdiction. These colleges include Medical College, Nursing College, Engineering College, Law College, Institutes of Management, Institute of Psychiatry etc.

Academics

Traditional and distance education

The university and its affiliated

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...

s and

institution An institution is a humanly devised structure of rules and norms that shape and constrain social behavior. All definitions of institutions generally entail that there is a level of persistence and continuity. Laws, rules, social conventions and ...

s offer undergraduate and postgraduate courses in different areas like medical, nursing, engineering, liberal arts, etc. Ranchi University generally offers postgraduate courses in liberal arts in own campus; while professional and liberal undergraduate degree courses are offered through the affiliated colleges and institutions. Professional postgraduate courses (like M.Tech., MD, Ms) are also offered through the affiliated institutions. Admission in the undergraduate liberal arts degree courses is mainly based on the result of the higher secondary (10+2) examination. However, for admission in the undergraduate courses of professional subjects like medicine and engineering, one has to take an entrance examination conducted by national agencies (NEET UG or JEE). Admission in the postgraduate courses is based on undergraduate degree results and also the performance of the entrance examination conducted either by the university or by the national agency. The aspirants for research-level programs have to take an entrance examination followed by an interview. Ranchi university also has a Directorate of

Distance Education Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance; today, it usually involves online ...

for conducting postgraduate studies in distance education.

Libraries

Ranchi University has a central library that has collections of more than 1,00,000 books.

Ranchi University Museum

The department of Anthropology at Ranchi University has a museum that showcases a variety of exhibits including

ethnographic Ethnography is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. It explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject of the study. Ethnography is also a type of social research that involves examining ...

collections of central Indian states and

Andaman and Nicobar Islands The Andaman and Nicobar Islands is a union territory of India comprising 572 islands, of which only 38 are inhabited. The islands are grouped into two main clusters: the northern Andaman Islands and the southern Nicobar Islands, separated by a ...

Ranking and accreditations

Ranchi University is recognized under Section 12B of the UGC Act. In 2017, the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) awarded 'B+' grade to the Ranchi University.

Corruption and White Collar Crimes

University since its inception has undergone many changes, some were acceptable and others inappropriate. University was unable to audit its financial affairs every year, which made it an easy target for officers and staffs for corrupt practices. It came in light of the Honourable High Court of Jharkhand that the officials were misusing their positions and exploiting the loopholes of the constitution. In 2011, there were instances where registrar and financial officer were engaged in embezzlement of funds provided by UGC for paying arrears to Teaching and Non-Teaching Staff. This was a loss for Ranchi University with accused still on loose. The accused son was arrested, with finance officer still absconding. In June 2000, the Vigilance Bureau of the Bihar Government arrested its vice chancellor L.C.C.N. Shahdeo for being involved as a mastermind in a racket for appointing undeserving people to the teaching and non-teaching staff of 40 colleges affiliated to the Ranchi University. Student leaders viewed arrest as a politically motivated raid by Vigilance department under the direction of Bihar Government. D.P. Gupta, the then vice chancellor of Ranchi University, took severe measures to make an audit of Ranchi University books from 1985 onwards. The audit revealed mass scale bungling of exam and registration fees running into crores with university officers colluding with college principals in submitting fake bank challans, payment of bogus T.A. bills worth lakhs of rupees, unlimited over time payments and non maintenance of even cash books over the years. Audit reports revealed financial irregularities and university staff taking help of anti-social elements to terrorise the auditors. In a meeting of the Public Account Committee of the Jharkhand Assembly held in 2006, Account General (Audit) revealed that heads of various departments, lecturers and non teaching employees of Ranchi University have taken Rs. 6.43 crores as an advance and this amount has not been adjusted to their salaries. In June itself, the RU administration, in response to the matter raised in the State Assembly, instructed the heads of the postgraduate departments and the head of the 34 constituent colleges to submit the expenditure receipts of the advance given to them for conducting examinations. The unaccounted expenses date back to so long that the heads of the departments in whose names the money was issued, have either retired or do not hold those posts any longer. In April 2007, university administration lodged an FIR against 24 office staff, involved in embezzlement of funds maintained in Pension and Gratuity Account including other heads of accounts by creating fake documents. It was believed that it involved white collared officials as well. There was also a case, where an external person/non-employee was working in sensitive Examination department for more than nine months without being caught. On every second day there was question paper leak and tapering of answer sheet. Furthermore, three teachers were appointed in the constituent college of the university who forged their degree certificate and marksheet. It came to the notice of university administration, but no actions were taken. The accused drew salary for 10 years due to lack of efficiency in incompetent authorities. A scandal got caught where teachers drawing pension, retired prior to 2016, had their salary fixed under 7th Pay Commission by University Administration and State Government paid lakhs rupees to University for illegal payments. Salary arrear scam came into light when Ranchi University procured Rs. 99.6 Crores for 1013 teachers, but in legal sense 860 teachers would have to be paid arrears. Department of Higher and Technical Education probed the matter through three members committee and found scam did happen. The department has recommended

to take action against the former vice-chancellor Ramesh Kumar Pandey, finance advisor, finance officer and registrar. Scam files went missing from Ranchi University, when

sought progress in action taken against erring officials. Governor has ordered to lodge

FIR Firs are evergreen coniferous trees belonging to the genus ''Abies'' () in the family Pinaceae. There are approximately 48–65 extant species, found on mountains throughout much of North and Central America, Eurasia, and North Africa. The genu ...

against erring officers. Embezzlement of total Rs.4 crores is discovered by auditors of

Government of Jharkhand The Government of Jharkhand also known as the State Government of Jharkhand, or locally as State Government, is the supreme governing authority of the Indian state of Jharkhand and its Districts of Jharkhand, 24 districts. It consists of an exec ...

, which pertains to 12 April 2010 amounting Rs.20078683, year 2003-2004 to May 2010 amounting Rs.13198183. Under Ranchi Women's College embezzlement is caught for the year 2006-2007;2007-2008 amounting Rs.7382531. And under Science & Technology embezzlement is caught for the year 2000-2001;2001-2002;2002-2003,2003-2004 amounting Rs.847823 & Rs.21855.

Notable alumni

* Babulal Marandi, former Chief Minister of Jharkhand * Kariya Munda, former

Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha The Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha is the second-highest-ranking authority of the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the parliament of India. He acts as the presiding authority in the event of leave or absence caused by the death or illness of the s ...

* D.K. Tiwari, former Chief Secretary of Jharkhand * Annpurna Devi , MP

References

External links

* {{authority control Universities and colleges in Ranchi Universities and colleges established in 1960 1960 establishments in Bihar