Agartala, July 8 (IANS) Noted academician Prof. Debabrata Das on Wednesday assumed charge as the new Vice-Chancellor of Tripura University, ending a nearly one-year-long vacancy in the top post at the Central university.

The Higher Education Department under the Union Ministry of Education had, on July 3, appointed Prof. Das as the 11th Vice-Chancellor of Tripura University. Before taking over the new assignment, he served as an Advisor to the Higher Education Department of the Assam government.

Officiating Vice-Chancellor Prof. Shyamal Das formally handed over charge to Prof. Debabrata Das at a simple ceremony attended by Tripura University Registrar Sameer Kumar Seal, Finance Officer Debashish Pal, and other senior university officials.

After assuming office, Prof. Das said his foremost objective would be to uphold and further strengthen the academic reputation and legacy of Tripura University.

He noted that many of the people of Tripura’s hopes and aspirations are associated with the university and assured that all possible steps would be taken to fulfil them, especially in the field of higher education.

He added that various initiatives would be undertaken to improve the quality of teaching, learning, and research. Enhancing academic excellence, promoting quality education, and strengthening research activities would remain his highest priorities.

Prof. Das said the main goal was to develop students’ skills and make them more employable. He emphasised that Tripura University has a significant role in improving the quality of higher education in the state and that continuous improvement in academic standards, research output, and innovation would help the university achieve greater national prominence.

Later in the afternoon, Prof. Das held an interaction with heads of various academic departments, deans, senior faculty members, and administrative officials at the university’s Council Hall to discuss priorities for the institution’s future development.

Prof. Das previously served as the Vice-Chancellor of the Assam Rajiv Gandhi University of Cooperative Management in Sivasagar. He also served as a Whole-Time Member of the Arunachal Pradesh Private Educational Institution Regulatory Commission in Itanagar.

He was previously a Professor in the Department of Business Administration at Tezpur University in Assam and has extensive academic and administrative experience spanning higher education, university governance, and institutional development.

Prof. Das has also completed the prestigious Senior Academic Leadership Programme at the Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, under the Leadership for Academicians Programme (LEAP) of the then Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD).

The post of a regular Vice-Chancellor at Tripura University had remained vacant since the completion of the tenure of the previous Vice-Chancellor, Prof. G.P. Prasain, on August 21, 2025. Since August last year, the university’s senior-most professor, Prof. Shyamal Das, had been serving as the officiating Vice-Chancellor and overseeing the institution’s academic and administrative affairs.

Tripura University was established by the state government on October 2, 1987, and was subsequently upgraded into a Central University on July 2, 2007, under the Tripura University Act, 2006, enacted by Parliament.

Besides its numerous academic departments, teaching centres, and research facilities, the university has an extensive network of affiliated colleges and institutions spread across the state. At present, as many as 68 colleges and educational institutions in Tripura are affiliated with Tripura University, making it the state’s premier institution for higher education and academic research.

–IANS

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