Directions have been issued to five central universities of Jharkhand, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and North East Hill University in Meghalaya to issue advertisement to start the process immediately.
Alleging improper constitution of search-cum-selection committees for selecting the VCs, former HRD Minister Murli Manohar Joshi had in a letter to the President demanded starting the selection process afresh.
Applications for the post of vice chancellors of central university of Kashmir and Guru Ghasidas Vishwavidyalaya in Chhattisgarh have been received in the meantime.
In all, 16 positions of VCs of central universities across the country had fallen vacant by August last year.
Since then, appointment of four vacancies have been filled up. They are the VCs of central universities of Gujarat, Kerala, Punjab and Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University Uttarakhand.