Interview by Bhawna Rawat

Sohan

Mr. Sohan Lal Sharma is presently working as the Registrar, National Law University, Jodhpur. He holds an M.com degree in Accountancy and Business Statistics. His area of interest lies in Financial Management. He has joined the Rajasthan Administrative Services in the year 1991.

Mr. Sharma has worked in different capacities at various universities and departments including the Registrar, Ayurved University, Jodhpur, District Supply Officer, Jodhpur, Registrar, Agriculture University, Jodhpur, Addl. Commissioner (Administration) Excise Department, Kota and Dy. Commissioner (Administration) Commercial Taxes, Kota.

Things that make NLU Jodhpur the best University to work with

In the education industry, NLU, Jodhpur is one of the most premium Institutes. All the students that get admission in this institute are admitted on the basis of CLAT: Common Law Admission Test. 40,000 Students attempt this Exam and the only those who rank among the top 350 can take admission in this institution. All the students that are admitted here are meritorious and come from good backgrounds.

My leadership style involves providing my team with all the required resources

I prefer to delegate the Responsibilities to the relevant Faculties and make sure that they are provided with the things which they need to impart knowledge to the maximum extent. I make sure that the faculty is provided with the best Infrastructure, best curriculum, Audio Classes and all the books which they might require.

Any faculty that wants to go outside for the betterment of the curriculum, they are provided by the financial assistance for the same, so that they are updated according to the latest technology.

Maintaining discipline among the students is one of the significant challenges

The new generation is a little more entitled and they desire more freedom but there are responsibilities and accountability that accompanies with a freedom which is a bit of an initial adjustment that accompanies the Students.

We suggest that the students stay within the campus premises during the night time but they want to go outside. Generally, we negotiate with the student committee regarding the fair regulations that are to be established, but they want more freedom. We try to provide them with more freedom inside the campus itself. The library is open till 12 AM. The Sports facilities are functional. We have a fully functional Gym on the premises as well. There had faced a small issue related to liquor in the past but we have a medical checkup related to it and we impose fines on the guilty parties. We stay in regular touch with the parents as well. So, everything is in proper Control. Activities like ragging don’t exist here as we have an anti-ragging Committee which ensures a good environment in the Institute.

NLU, Jodhpur students get handsome placements opportunities or admission in prestigious Institutes after completing their education

Placement of students is almost 100%. The packages that they are being offered ranges from 8 to 20 lakh annually. The Students that go to International Law firms, get packages up to 60 lakhs per annum.

A good pool of students pursues higher education after completing the course here. Students from NLU, Jodhpur can be found in Cambridge University and Harvard University. They often can be found studying in prestigious Institutes in countries like New Zealand and Australia.

Facilities and resources provided to the students on campus

One of the important tasks that I feel I have here is to take care of the committees like Moot Court Committee, Placement Committee, Sports Committee and Cultural Committee. When a student approaches me with a particular Request, it is taken into consideration. They are also made to contribute or take a sponsorship from outside.

The financial assistance is provided to them by the University as well. The whole process is very participative. The students get to hone their own leadership skills through this process. There is an event Called as Yuvarda that happens every two years. 10 – 15 Colleges Participate in this. Everything is taken care of by the students, right from the general registrations, Transportation, Accommodation to the finalization of the event. However, all the discussions are done and pre-approved by us beforehand.

The Institute consists of a diversity of students from different states

Students that come here, come from 24 different states. So, we are culturally very rich and diverse. They celebrate their Festivals here, they cook their own food on occasions and as a result of this they get to learn a lot and grow a lot. It improves national character. It leads to a good mixture of students from very diverse, strong and meritorious background.

Maintaining contact with the alumni

We are in regular touch with our Alumni. As they are pursuing their law careers with a large variety of Practices, they get in touch with us and interact with the students, giving them an idea about the real world, what is happening and what is needed out there through their guest lectures that are done in person or through Skype and so.

Qualities required in a student to be a successful lawyer

There are students that drop one or two years in order to clear CLAT who take Coaching and study day and night and then they somehow come here and sometimes are unable to keep up with all the activities. I would like to tell them that- the type of students that can happily excel here would be the ones who are all-rounders, who are good at sports, who are able to speak in front of people and have an aptitude for the subject Law as well. As to be a successful lawyer you need to have that kind of personality.