People familiar with Delhi University (DU) vice-chancellor (V-C) Yogesh Tyagi -- who was suspended by the President on Wednesday on charges of dereliction of duties, abuse of power and lack of commitment – had mixed reactions to offer on his tenure as an academician.
Some said he is a “dignified person, a committed academician, a remarkable teacher” while others termed him as an “indecisive administrator and an incompetent V-C”.
A native of Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut district, Tyagi was appointed the 22nd VC of DU in March 2016. Before that, he was a professor and dean of the faculty of legal studies at South Asian University (SAU) in New Delhi. He was a professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University’s (JNU) School of International Studies (SIS) and served as its dean between January 2009 and December 2011.
VG Hegde, chairperson of International Legal Studies at SIS,who knows Tyagi from the days when hewas a student in JNU, said, “He is a remarkable academician and his achievements in the field of international law is commendable. He has been a meticulous person who would take a lot of time in taking decisions. During his tenure as dean, some colleagues felt his nature in delaying the decision-making process made him unsuitable for the administrative posts”
“However, he was a fabulous teacher who was admired by his students. He was so dedicated that we used to teach for 2-3 hours at a stretch. He was one of the best teachers I have seen,” said Hedge, who had also worked with Tyagi at SAU between 2012 and 2016.
JNU registrar Pramod Kumar, who was a student at the university when Tyagi was warden of Narmada hostel, said, “I can’t recall any fellowship or scholarship that he did not win. He was internationally known for his academic credentials.”
Tyagi was on deputation from JNU when he had joined SAU and later DU as the V-C. He continued to stay in his allotted house in JNU even after joining DU till January 2019. He shifted to the Viceregal Lodge -- which houses the V-C’s residence and office---in DU’s north campus after retiring from JNU last year.
He had been working in DU at a salary of Rs 1 per month since 2016.
Tyagi’s personal records, including his date of birth, are not available on DU’s official website. According to officials at JNU, he is 67 now. He received his LLM from Columbia University School of Law in New York and did his MPhil and Ph.D. in legal studies from JNU.
Recalling a 2010 incident when Tyagi was dean of SIS, a professor at the school said, “Tyagi was chairing a board meeting. Some bills were placed before him to clear but he did not sign. It was strange. It’s not the first time. He would not sign a piece of paper just like that. He had some kind of paranoia.”
Another faculty member at SIS, who wished not to be named, said, “Tyagi was an executive council member in JNU in 2010 and there was some issue we wanted him to raise during a meeting. Later, we got to know, he came out of the room when the issue was raised in the meeting. How can a dean do something like that?”
Around 10 years down the line, similar allegations have been levelled against Tyagi in his capacity as the V-C of DU. Delays in appointments to key posts and implementation of flagship schemes of the education ministry, pending inquiries in vigilance and sexual harassment complaints, and alleged lack of commitment, were among the charges levelled against him, according to an order issued by the union education ministry while announcing his suspension on Wednesday.
A senior DU official, who wished not to be named, said Tyagi refrained from signing any paper or file from day one in his capacity as the V-C. “He would rather ask the officiating pro-VC or the registrar to sign files. However, as per norms, all files should be signed by the V-C. Due to his reluctance to sign files, work got delayed year after year. During an academic council meeting in his initial days, he was asked to make a decision on some matter. Replying to which, he had said, ‘God will take care of it’ and deferred the matter,” the official said.
JL Gupta, an EC member at DU, who has been associated with the university since 1962, said Tyagi’s “lack of trust” and “indecisiveness” made his tenure a “complete administrative failure”. “He had always appointed people on key term posts, such as Pro-VC, dean of colleges and controller exams, on a temporary basis, which is totally in violation of the university’s norms,” he said.
Students said he remained “unapproachable”. Amit Tanwar, who was president of DU Students’ Union in 2017 when violence broke out in Ramjas College, said, “He took it very casually and did not even receive calls we made to inform him about the incident when it was happening. It’s after a lot of pressure from students that he met us. ”
But some of his close associates at DU remembered Tyagi as a “man of dignity”. “He is a no-nonsense person. You would spot him taking morning and evening walks with his old mother in the Viceregal Lodge. He never took anyone’s favour even for a cup of tea. He worked without any salary at DU. This is so unfortunate that all this has happened just a few months before his term was already ending (March)”.
Tyagi could not be reached for a comment/
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