Dr. K. C. Belliappa, Vice - Chancellor of Rajiv Gandhi University, Rono Hills, Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh, was here on a brief visit, returning to his home town after five months. As our readers may know, he was teaching in the Post Graduate English Department of Manasa Gangothri for almost all his teaching career under the scholarly wings of the legendary Prof. C. D. Narasimhaiah and Dr. U. R. Ananthamurthy among others.

While in Manasa Gangothri, he was acknowledged as one of the best English teachers apart from being a public speaker of oratorial skill. He was also associated with Dhvanyaloka, the Indian version of Arcadia of Athens that Prof. CDN founded and nurtured. The number of academic related offices held by him are many so also the seminar papers he has presented here and abroad.

The crowning glory of Dr. Belliappa's long academic career is, of course, in his being appointed the first Vice - Chancellor of Rajiv Gandhi University, which was elevated to the status of a Central University.

Excerpts from the interview.

Professor thank you for sparing your time. We could not get you for an interview earlier but this time we are lucky. May I ask what was your feeling when you first heard the good news?
Needless to say, I was truly delighted for I was offered the highest position a teacher can aspire for in his professional career. But I must also add that I was a little apprehensive since I was going to a place which was totally new, about which I knew very little.

It was in the air for sometime that you would be the next VC of Mangalore University. What happened?
That was true. But the job went to a fellow Kodava who was senior to me and who had served in that University for nearly three decades.

All the same, was it a great disappointment for you?
To be honest, no. But it is true that I was hoping to make it to the coveted position but as you know there is always a slip between the cup and the lip.

Given the choice, what would be your preference of the University for this high office?
Frankly, I would have loved to be a VC in a University of Karnataka but, after five months in Rajiv Gandhi University, I realised that it would have been a very poor substitute for the job I hold at present.

What makes you think so?
The Universities in Karnataka are completely starved of funds. Whereas Rajiv Gandhi University, by virtue of being a Central University, does not have this problem. I am also fortunate that I became a VC at the beginning of the 11th Plan period, so I have submitted a proposal to the UGC of my own vision for the University, the only one in the State of Arunachal Pradesh.

If I may ask, rather a personal question, did you face any problem from the Mysore University before and after the announcement of your appointment to Rajiv Gandhi University? This I ask because there were some talk in the University in this regard?
For obvious reasons I cannot speak the whole truth. But I can only say that the last three years of my service in the University of Mysore was the darkest phase in my academic career. The less said the better about these. Incidentally, these are now too well - known to be stated in public.

Well, you are being too diplomatic but may I know whether you left Mysore University with sweet or bitter memories?
The overall memories were indeed very sweet. But the most recent ones are truly bitter and depressing.

So the new job must have come to you as deliverance. Is it true?
You could not have put it better and the last five months has seen the revival of my former self in my new job.

Professor, you have worked in Mysore University for many years and lectured in other Universities, seminars and forums. Now you are heading a Central University. What difference do you find in the matter of academics and administration between a Central University and a State University?
As I said earlier, the fundamental difference is financial resource. Rajiv Gandhi University is the 19th Central University in India. Three others had been established after that. Whereas there are over 280 State Universities in India. Universities like Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi; Delhi University; Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi and University of Hyderabad, make up for the largest share in the budget of the UGC. For instance, I have proposed a budget of Rs. 160 crore for Rajiv Gandhi University during the 11th Plan period. To put it in simple terms, while the Central Universities have money for developmental activities, the State Universities have very little left after paying the salaries to their staff.

But is there any qualitative difference in teaching in the Central Universities as compared to State Universities?
There may not be a significant difference. But I will cite an example regarding the kind of students admitted to two of the Central Universities in India, namely JNU and University of Hyderabad. These two Universities make their admissions on the basis of an All India Entrance Test. And so, as you can very well imagine, only the very best make it to these two Universities. Whereas in the other Central Universities, the situation is more or less the same.

This is about taking in the creamy layer among students. But when the admission is open and based on scoring eligibility marks, how do you propose to improve the quality of teaching that will benefit the students?
Let me first mention an interesting experience I had with the local MLA (Doimukh constituency) recently: During a dinner at his place, I casually asked Ngurang Pinch about his children and I was surprised to learn that his children were being educated at Mount Carmel, Bangalore, Doon School, Dehra Dun and in a prestigious school in Shimla. Obviously, his children were very bright. But I told Pinch jocularly if there are people like him who send all their children outside the State, what am I left with for my University?

He, no doubt, laughed it out but this is the challenge that I face in my University and I have requested the teachers to begin the tutorial system, start remedial teaching and take more active interest in their students' learning process. But as you know it is easier said than done. I have already faced some strong resistance from some departments about introducing the tutorial system. Hence, I was compelled to make this an optional exercise. I also realised how it is not easy to bring about changes suddenly in our kind of system.

But can't you bring about the change even in "our kind of system" by appointing professionally well - qualified teachers? We learn in some Universities English language is taught even at the post-graduate level in the local language, partly because the teachers themselves are not learned enough in English language?
I have advertised 53 teaching positions in leading National dailies hoping that the very best would apply. However, let me tell you that my teachers are all of them, without exception, extremely articulate, good in English and are all fairly competent as teachers. Since we do not have our local language, we are in a uniquely advantageous position and hence the medium of instruction is only English for all subjects.

How is English teaching in your University compared with the teaching of English at Manasa Gangothri, where you taught for more than 32 years?
Frankly, I can't answer the question since I have not yet begun teaching the MA students in my University. I am planning to meet the I & III semester students every week for one hour from next week onwards. Maybe in my next interview with you I may answer this question.

Now that you've been in Arunachal Pradesh for the last 5 months, could you share some of your most thrilling moments and depressing moments?
My most memorable encounter was with Mr. S. K. Singh, the Governor of Arunachal Pradesh. I sought an appointment and was given one on the same day that was 3rd May. S. K. Singh is a distinguished Civil Servant and a former Foreign Secretary of India. I was slightly apprehensive as I entered his living room at the Raj Bhavan. I was able to strike a rapport with him and soon one thing led to another and we were chatting like old friends. It was possible because he put me at ease and interacted very warmly with me.

When he stood up and walked with me to the door and to the steps outside, I was clean bowled by his gesture and as I got into my vehicle, I realised he had given me 95 minutes. Later on I met him in Delhi at his residence along with my predecessor Prof. Atul Sarma. Singh gave me an invaluable advice as to how I should function as a VC. This has helped me immensely in my functioning over the last few months and I am most grateful to him for this. The depressing part was laxity in the University administration and so I had to set right everything from scratch, so much so I describe myself as not the VC of Rajiv Gandhi University but the chief mechanic of the University. However, I look upon this as a challenge and I know my job is cut out for the next 5 years.

Arunachal Pradesh is geographically, socially, linguistically, culturally and in many other ways different from the place you are familiar with. Do you find it inconvenient and uncomfortable?
The answer is an assertive “no”. For one, Rono Hills where my campus is located is so much like Kodagu, in terms of the weather, the landscape and the incessant rains we receive throughout the year. As a Kodava, I can very well empathise with the life-style of 25 major tribes and 100 odd smaller tribes. Each one of them has its own unique set of rituals, religious practices, folkways and rich store house of myths. When I talk about my community and my tribal affinities, quite a few of my Arunachal friends see remarkable similarities between the two.

As a VC, what is your vision for Rajiv Gandhi University and what are your suggestions to improve conditions and standards of Mysore University, if at all required?
When I was revising the 11th Plan proposal, submitted by my predecessor who was in office only for 31/2 months, I saw a golden opportunity to do something concrete and substantial for the all-around development of Rajiv Gandhi University. My vision for Rajiv Gandhi University is to make it into a purely residential University. This is important for Arunachal Pradesh, which is unique in many ways. It is larger than Assam in size but has a population of little over 11 lakhs.

While the National average density population per sq. km is 324, that of Arunachal Pradesh is a mere 13. This will give some idea about the way the population is spread over a huge area. In view of the terrain and landscape of the area, travel becomes difficult, communication breaks down and hence I have projected Rajiv Gandhi University as a residential University where the students, teachers and the non - teaching staff can live together on Rono Hills, which is incidentally a University township.

Interviewed by KBG
Courtesy: Star of Mysore

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