Madhusudan Law College, one of the oldest law institutes in Odisha and India, was officially upgraded to the status of a university April 28. Professor Dr Kamaljeet Singh has assumed office as the first Vice-Chancellor of Madhusudan Law University (MLU). Singh, who has served as Member, Himachal Pradesh Private Educational Institutions Regulatory Commission, opens up in an interview. Excerpts…
What would be your first reaction as the VC of a new varsity (MLU)?
A VC has nothing much to do after joining an already established university. On the other hand, it is no less than a challenge to be the VC of a new university. It is an opportunity for me and I will utilise my foresight to establish the institute as a model university.
How would you manage regular teaching and exam processes?
MLU has started operations April 28, 2021. We are preparing a syllabus for the students who will take admissions to the law university. MLU’s syllabus, admission and examination processes will be out of the box.
How do you think the journey would be from a teacher to an administrator?
I have more than 27 years of teaching experience. Moreover, I have worked in several positions at 17 universities and 277 colleges. Hence, I have exposure to a host of areas. I believe that this experience would definitely help me further.
What according to you is the most challenging task in varsity management?
Managing a varsity is full of challenges. From admissions to hosting classes, challenges are everywhere. It is more, especially, during the pandemic as we are unable to host physical classes. Our efficacy, however, improves only with challenges.
What are your plans for the university’s development?
There are three key parts of a varsity—students, faculty and non-teaching staffers. We believe that development of the university is directly proportional to the development of the three. As students play a key role in an educational system, our focus would be to offer state-of-the-art classroom, library and infrastructure to them.
How do you think MLU is going to create an identity in national and international levels?
We will try focussing on this once the university starts functioning in a full-fledged manner. We will sign agreements with national and international universities apart from starting the student-teacher exchange programmes.
Can we expect a competition between National Law University and MLU?
National Law University (NLU) and MLU are totally different. While NLU has only 15-20 per cent students from Odisha, MLU will have 100 per cent Odisha students. We don’t have any competition with NLU. I want to provide law education to common students in Odisha.
