A group of academicians, including former Vice-Chancellors, on Friday held protests outside Raj Bhawan Kolkata against “the arbitrary appointment of interim Vice-Chancellors that has gravely affected higher education in the State”.
Om Prakash Mishra, Deb Narayan Bandyopadhyay, Sonali Chakravarti Banerjee, Swagata Sen and Sibaji Pratim Basu were among the several people who held protests outside the Raj Bhawan. The academicians raised the issue of the appointment of interim Vice-Chancellors.
“His Excellency, we request you to abandon your illegal ways. Dictatorial aspirations and a domineering approach do not suit your formal position. The Chancellor is a creature of statutes and his powers are limited by the statutes. It is good to obey the command of law and shun the path of confrontation. We appeal to you to consider our request in a time bound manner,” a letter addressed to Governor C.V. Ananda Bose by the academicians said.
This is the first time that academicians have decided to hit the streets against the Governor who is ex-officio Chancellor of the Universities in the State. Earlier, these academicians had addressed a number of press conferences, raising their objections to the appointment of interim V-Cs by the Governor.
This development also comes at the time when Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Governor Bose are locked in a war of words with Ms. Banerjee saying that she will hold protests outside Raj Bhawan if Bills passed by the State Assembly are not given assent by the Raj Bhawan. The Governor has ‘invited’ the Chief Minister to hold protests inside the Raj Bhawan.
Registrars had been “advised” to skip Minister’s meeting: Basu
Meanwhile, State Education Minister Bratya Basu on Friday held a meeting with registrars of State-run Universities. Noting that only 12 registrars from 31 State-run universities participated in the meeting he had called on Friday, the Minister claimed that registrars had been “advised” against attending the meeting by the Governor. The State government has decided to serve showcause notices to the absent registrars.
While the Governor had appointed interim Vice-Chancellors to several State-run universities, the State government’s decision to bring a registrar to the discussion table was an attempt not to allow universities to completely slip out of control from the State government.
Contention continues
The Minister launched a fresh attack on the Governor and said that while he speaks of morality, law and corruption, under which law he can make comments directed against the State government. Recalling the Governor’s statement, where he said the Vice-Chancellor was removed over several allegations of misconduct and partisanship, Mr. Basu pointed out that the Raj Bhawan has neither approached the Vice-Chancellor nor the State government on such allegations.
“Do you want to know why I could not appoint the V-Cs from the list of names proposed by the State government? This is a fact that some were corrupt, some were accused of harassing female students and some were playing political games,“ the Governor said in a recorded video message in Bengali on Thursday.
The State Education Minister has been accused of targeting the reputation of well-known academicians of West Bengal without any proof.