Centre reappoints Yogesh Singh as Delhi University Vice Chancellor for second five-year term

3 min readNew DelhiJul 3, 2026 03:40 PM IST

Yogesh Singh, who assumed office as Delhi University’s VC in 2021, will begin his second five-year term on October 8, 2026, according to the Ministry's order. (Express File Photo)

Almost three years after the Union government amended the University of Delhi’s statutes to make its Vice-Chancellor eligible for reappointment, the Centre has exercised that provision for the first time, reappointing VC Yogesh Singh for a second consecutive five-year term.

In an order dated July 2, 2026, the Ministry of Education said the President, in her capacity as the Visitor of the University of Delhi, had approved Singh’s reappointment.

“I am directed to convey that the Hon’ble President of India in her capacity as the Visitor of University of Delhi has been pleased to re-appoint Prof Yogesh Singh as the Vice Chancellor of University of Delhi for a second term of five years w.e.f. 08.10.2026,” the notification issued by the Department of Higher Education stated.

Before the rules were changed, DU was among the few central universities in the country where the VC was not eligible for re-appointment. Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) is currently the only central university where the VC is not eligible for reappointment.

The development follows a statutory amendment first reported by The Indian Express in October 2023, when the Union government approved changes to the Delhi University Statutes enabling the VC to serve a second consecutive term through reappointment.

Before the amendment, an incumbent VC of DU seeking another term had to apply afresh alongside other candidates. The VC could continue until their successor assumed office, but a seamless transition to a second term was not possible.

The amendment altered Statute 11-F(4) to state that the VC “shall hold office for a term of five years and shall be eligible for re-appointment for another term”.

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At the time, university officials had told The Indian Express that the amendment was not a fresh proposal but the revival of a resolution that was originally passed by Delhi University’s Executive Council in March 2014 during the tenure of then Vice Chancellor Dinesh Singh.

The proposal had subsequently been approved by the University Court and forwarded to the Ministry of Education, where it remained pending for almost a decade before receiving the Visitor’s approval in 2023.

Speaking to The Indian Express then, Prof Yogesh Singh had said, “This is not a new proposal. This was approved by the EC under the leadership of Dinesh Singh ji and has now been approved by the Visitor too.”

During Dinesh Singh’s term (2010-15) as VC, aside from approving a resolution on giving the VC another term, the EC, DU’s highest decision-making authority, had also passed resolutions increasing the retirement age of several office bearers such as the Dean of Colleges and the Pro-Vice Chancellor from 65 years to 70 years. This change too was approved by the Centre.

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Yogesh Singh, who assumed office as Delhi University’s VC in 2021, will begin his second five-year term on October 8, 2026, according to the Ministry’s order.

His current term has seen the rollout of the National Education Policy (NEP) at the university, implementation of the Four-Year Undergraduate Programme (FYUP), sweeping curriculum reforms, expansion of admissions through the Common University Entrance Test (CUET), the establishment of new academic centres, and significant restructuring across colleges and departments.

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Vidheesha Kuntamalla is a Senior Correspondent at The Indian Express, based in New Delhi. She is known for her investigative reporting on higher education policy, international student immigration, and academic freedom on university campuses. Her work consistently connects policy decisions with lived realities, foregrounding how administrative actions, political pressure, and global shifts affect students, faculty, and institutions.

Professional Profile

Core Beat: Vidheesha covers education in Delhi and nationally, reporting on major public institutions including the University of Delhi (DU), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Jamia Millia Islamia, the IITs, and the IIMs. She also reports extensively on private and government schools in the National Capital Region.

Prior to joining The Indian Express, she worked as a freelance journalist in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh for over a year, covering politics, rural issues, women-centric issues, and social justice.

Specialisation: She has developed a strong niche in reporting on the Indian student diaspora, particularly the challenges faced by Indian students and H-1B holders in the United States. Her work examines how geopolitical shifts, immigration policy changes, and campus politics impact global education mobility.

She has also reported widely on:

* Mental health crises and student suicides at IITs

* Policy responses to campus mental health

* Academic freedom and institutional clampdowns at JNU, South Asian University (SAU), and Delhi University

* Curriculum and syllabus changes under the National Education Policy

Her recent reporting has included deeply reported human stories on policy changes during the Trump administration and their consequences for Indian students and researchers in the US.

Reporting Style

Vidheesha is recognised for a human-centric approach to policy reporting, combining investigative depth with intimate storytelling. Her work often highlights the anxieties of students and faculty navigating bureaucratic uncertainty, legal precarity, and institutional pressure. She regularly works with court records, internal documents, official data, and disciplinary frameworks to expose structural challenges to academic freedom.

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An Indian Express investigation found that since 2011, JNU has appeared in over 600 cases before the Delhi High Court, filed by the administration, faculty, staff, students, and contractual workers across the tenures of three Vice-Chancellors.

JNU’s legal wars with students and faculty pile up under 3 V-Cs | Rs 30-lakh fines chill campus dissent (November 2025)

The report traced how steep monetary penalties — now codified in the Chief Proctor’s Office Manual — are reshaping dissent and disciplinary action on campus.

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