A group of academicians, including former Vice-Chancellors from West Bengal, on Friday to President Droupadi Murmu alleging that State’s Governor C.V. Ananda Bose was” trying to directly administer the public universities”.
“By setting aside the founding acts and statutes of the universities, the Hon’ble Chancellor , his Excellency the Governor of West Bengal is trying to directly the public universities. In some of the universities, a never heard of category of Professor-in charge has been invented and they are being authorised to perform functions of the Vice-Chancellors. Retired judges and police officers are being authorised as Vice-Chancellors and some of appointees are being routinely replaced, a letter signed by academics said.
Om Prakash Mishra, former Vice-Chancellor of the North Bengal University who is also signatory to the letter said that the parallel administration in the universities has unleashed in Bengal an era of unprecedented uncertainty, chaos and crisis.
The letter pointed out that since the Governor is appointed by the President, he “may also suitably instructed not to be indefinitely sit over the Bills passed by the State Legislative Assembly”.
This is not the first-time academicians like Prof Mishra, who is chairman of West Bengal Council of Higher Education, Asutosh Ghosh, former Vice-Chancellor of the Calcutta University, and Ranjan Chakraborty, former Vice-Chancellor of the Vidyasagar University, along with others have come out in public domain raising questions on the decisions of the Governor as far as appointment of Vice-Chancellors in concerned. The academicians had urged the Governor not bring in the “issue of appointment of Vice-Chancellors in the political fight with the State government”. “We understand that such whimsical and unilateral actions of the Hon’ble Chancellor are prompted by non-academic considerations,” the letter said.
None of the 31 State-run universities in the State have a full time Vice-Chancellor and the Governor has appointed more than a dozen of officiating Vice Chancellors allegedly without consulting State government. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had on August 9 accused the Governor of overstepping constitutional jurisdiction and urged him to give nod to legislation replacing her as the Chancellor of the universities in the State.
Photo in DCX ( File name- academicians press conference)
