Bengal Governor dragging V-Cs in fight with State government, say academicians

“We regret to inform you that V-Cs have never been treated like this previously.”

Accusing West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose of encouraging illegality by seeking weekly reports directly from Vice-Chancellors (V-Cs), 10 prominent academicians on Friday said the Governor should not bring V-Cs in the fight with the State government.

“If the Governor wants to fight the State government, he may, but he should not bring in the V-Cs in this,” said Om Prakash Mishra, prominent academician and former V-C of North Bengal University. The academicians, mostly V-Cs who were unceremoniously shunted out during when the Governor recently decided to appoint interim V-Cs, broke their silence with a press conference at the Kolkata Press Club.

“We are feeling insulted. We have been following rules which have been laid down and have been punished for following the rules,” said Deb Narayan Bandyopadhay, former V-C of Bankura University. The former V-Cs said that as per the West Bengal University Laws (Amendment) Act, 2019, V-Cs cannot directly engage or communicate with the Governor who is the Chancellor of the State universities and only means of communication is through the State Higher Education Department.

The Raj Bhawan in April 2023 had issued a circular asking the V-Cs to send a weekly report and the State Education Department had objected to the circular. According to former V-Cs who addressed the media on Friday, only three V-Cs who submitted weekly reports to the Raj Bhawan have been retained and in other cases interim V-Cs have been appointed and those who were on the post earlier have been replaced. “We regret to inform you that V-Cs have never been treated like this previously and never ever the office of the Chancellor has stooped so low in the history of our State,” a press statement by the academicians said.

Senior academicians like Prof. Mishra said they were pained at the initiative of Bikash Bhawan, the headquarters of the State’s Education Department, as the department did not intervene when the Governor was appointing interim V-Cs.

“We expect to see a more proactive and effective role on the part of the Department of Higher Education for the protection of the dignity and honour of the V-Cs of the State universities. It is sad and regrettable,” the press statement said. On Thursday  Education Minister Bratya Basu took to social media and said the department was considering legal opinion in connection with the appointments of interim V-Cs. The Minister also urged the newly appointed V-Cs not to accept these “illegal appointments”.