Pay & allowances of 11 V-Cs suspended; state Edu dept says ‘not legally tenable’

Kolkata: The eleven Vice-Chancellors appointed by Governor CV Ananda Bose, who is also the Chancellor of state universities, will not be accorded pay and allowances for the position of Vice-Chancellor by the state Higher Education department.

A letter reflecting the same was sent to the registrar of one of these universities. In the letter, the state Higher Education department has stated: “Hon’ble Chancellor has not made the communication regarding the appointment of Vice-Chancellor through Higher Education department and hence the same is not legally tenable, as per the legal views.”

Considering this, the appointment could not be accepted as valid and therefore the state Higher Education department “does not accord financial sanction with regard to pay and allowances for the position of Vice-Chancellor of the appointed incumbent.”

It also reiterated that the temporary appointments were made by the Chancellor without any consultation with the state Higher Education minister Bratya Basu. Citing Rule 8(5) of the West Bengal State Universities (terms and conditions of service of the Vice-Chancellor and the manner and procedure of official communication) Rules 2019, the letter stated that any communication proposed to be made by the Chancellor to any state-aided university should be routed through the state Higher Education department. Since communication was not made regarding the appointment, it was considered “not legally tenable.”

Governor Bose had appointed temporary V-Cs in eleven state universities. The minister had said that the department was taking legal opinions to decide what action can be taken in days to come.