State Education minister Bratya Basu on Saturday said he hopes that Raj Bhavan clears the Bill that was passed in the state Assembly in June last year designating Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as the Chancellor of state universities.
The state Assembly had passed “The West Bengal University Laws (Amendment) Bill” last year in June seeking to replace the then Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as the Chancellor of all state-run universities. The Bill was passed after a majority of the members voted in favour of the legislation.
Basu called the matter of Governor CV Ananda Bose appointing retired judges or IPS officers as Vice-Chancellors of state universities as sub-judice. The Governor who is also the Chancellor of state universities had appointed retired IPS officer M Wahab to exercise the powers and perform duties of the Vice-Chancellor for Aliah University and appointed former Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court Subhro Kamal Mukherjee as the interim V-C of Rabindra Bharati University.
Many organisations, including Jadavpur University Teachers’ Association, have condemned these appointments in recent times. They claimed that these are not only against the interest of the university but have also created a crisis in the state. They hope that the importance of the matter will be realised by the Governor soon and eventually, he would reconsider his decision.
Earlier, academicians from different colleges while pointing out the chaotic state of higher education in the state due to the absence of permanent Vice-Chancellors said if Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is made the Chancellor, then the problem of not having a permanent V-C in the state universities will be solved.