The appointment of a retired 1990-batch Indian Police Service officer as the Vice-Chancellor (V-C) of India’s only sports university has raised hackles in Manipur.
Daljit Singh Chaudhary, a former Director General of the Border Security Force and the Sashastra Seema Bal, was recently appointed as the V-C of the National Sports University (NSU) coming up at Koutruk in Imphal West district.
Keisham Meghachandra Singh, the president of Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee, said the appointment was in line with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-Bharatiya Janata Party policy of bulldozing academic norms and the rule of law.
The Meetei (Meitei) Tribe Union, an Imphal Valley-based social organisation, questioned the legality and transparency of the appointment, which was “made in violation of recruitment rules and prescribed qualifications under the NSU Act, 2018”.
Taking to social media platforms on Saturday (May 16, 2026), Mr. Singh said Mr. Chaudhary’s appointment “deeply shocked and disappointed academicians, applicants, researchers, and aspiring scholars across Manipur and the country”.
He said that the NSU was established with the vision and support of the Prime Minister as a premier institution of excellence in sports education, sports science, physical education, research, and academic leadership. “Such an institution of national importance deserves leadership selected strictly in accordance with academic merit, statutory norms, and recruitment rules — not through arbitrary political decisions,” he wrote.
“Selection process ignored”
The State Congress chief said that the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports initiated a long and rigorous selection process through an official advertisement issued in December 2024. Eminent academicians and professionals from across the country applied and waited patiently for more than two years.
“Applicants prepared extensive academic records, research credentials, publications, administrative experience, and institutional vision documents before appearing before the Search-cum-Selection Committee in New Delhi on May 31, 2025, at the National Dope Testing Laboratory, JLN Stadium Complex. Out of 15 shortlisted candidates, 14 reportedly appeared for the interaction,” he said.
“The advertisement clearly prescribed that the V-C should possess an outstanding academic record along with a minimum of 10 years’ experience as a professor or in an equivalent academic administrative position. However, the appointment of a person whose name reportedly did not appear in the shortlist and whose qualifications do not appear to satisfy the prescribed academic criteria has raised extremely serious concerns regarding transparency, legality, and adherence to the recruitment rules,” Mr. Singh said.
He said that he respected Mr. Chaudhury’s public service and contributions to national security, but “respect for administrative service cannot override statutory eligibility conditions meant for an academic office”.
“Sets a dangerous precedent”
He said that the appointment sets a dangerous precedent in which institutions of higher education may gradually lose their academic character due to political interference.
On Saturday, Manipur Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh visited the NSU complex to assess the status of the ongoing infrastructure development work. He praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for fulfilling his dream of establishing the country’s only such university.
The National Building Construction Corporation is handling the project. Officials of the corporation told the Chief Minister that the new campus will house 60 faculty residential units. The campus is also equipped with a multi-purpose sports hall spread across the ground and first floors.
“The project is targeted to be completed by the end of this year. The university will have an intake capacity of 1,300 students,” he said.