Kolkata: The state Cabinet on Thursday gave its nod to appoint Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as Chancellor of state-run universities replacing the Governor. The decision will now be sent to the state Assembly for its approval.
"The Cabinet has unanimously decided that the Chancellor's post in all state-aided universities will be held by the Chief Minister instead of the Governor. The Cabinet's decision needs to be passed in the state Assembly so that it becomes effective as an Act," state Education minister Bratya Basu said after the special Cabinet meeting held at Nabanna on Thursday.
With TMC having an overwhelming majority in the Assembly, the proposal is expected to get the nod easily but to be implemented, the Bill needs the consent of the Governor before becoming an Act.
The Governor is at present the ex-officio Chancellor of 17 state-run universities in Bengal.
According to sources in the state Secretariat, the Cabinet has taken a cue from the decade-old Punchhi Commission report that recommends curtailing the powers of Governors in educational matters. Rajnath Singh was the Home minister when the Commission had made its recommendation.
Kerala and Tamil Nadu have already gone ahead with this move and had placed it before their respective assemblies.
The development comes in the wake of Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, who happens to be the Chancellor of the state universities, allegedly standing in the way of education in the state and showing a lack of co-operation. He has been accused of delaying files day after day.
Recently, Governor Dhankhar had gone into a war of words with the Vice-Chancellors over the functioning of universities and had also alleged that V-Cs of around 25 universities were appointed without his consent. He had further complained that despite being the Chancellor, he was not being invited to the programmes organised by the universities.
The universities, however, refuted his allegations claiming that convocations were not being held for the last two years due to the pandemic. Dhankhar was invited to the convocations of Jadavpur University and Calcutta University in December 2019 and January 2020 respectively but faced protests from students.
Educationist Nrisingha Prasad Bhaduri welcomed the move of the state Cabinet. "I think that the Governor is himself responsible for this decision. The Governor's job is to act as a shield and point out mistakes of the state government if any. But he has not been signing Bills related to the appointment of Vice-Chancellors. So if the Chief Minister comes in his place, it is welcome," Bhaduri said.