‘Decentralising power to restore trust’

OV Nandimath, the recently appointed vice-chancellor of West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences (WBNUJS), in a conversation with Pritha Roy Choudhury, reflects on steering the institution through a phase of transition and renewal. Having assumed office amid recent unrest, he speaks about restoring trust, decentralising governance, strengthening the university's finances, and addressing long-standing infrastructure challenges. Edited excerpts from the conversation:

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Q. You have taken charge of NUJS after a difficult phase for the university. What were your first priorities when you assumed office?

A. It's an interesting question. I am just two months old after assuming the office as VC. To some extent, it was indeed a difficult time during which I had to assume office – particularly the student agitation which took place in the recent past. So, the first ever task was to understand the sentiments of students, faculty, support-staff and other stakeholders. After some interaction, I realised that there is a certain trust deficit among all of them. Therefore, I had to address the issue of restoring the 'trust quotient' among the WBNUJS community.

Naturally, to restore trust, communication is key; there are no superficial substitutes. Within a few hours of assuming office, I addressed the students, faculty and support staff. On January 1, 2026, I convened my first executive council meeting. All these have helped me reestablish the channels of communication, which I believe is the first step. The second is approachability. If my doors are open for everyone, that would help in not only understanding the challenges but solving them.

However, I do believe that it would take some time for people to realise that I do exactly as I say before they trust me and accept me as their leader.

Q. What systemic or governance gaps contributed to the unrest?

A. For reasons unknown to me, decision making was centralised with the VC office. That was likely the main cause of student agitation. You can imagine, if the VC takes all first decisions, then appeals naturally go to the executive, creating transactional engagement. Also, decision quality suffers when the VC must decide everything. So, I had to delegate some powers.