Min urges for quick appointment of V-Cs in state-aided universities
Kolkata: State Education minister Bratya Basu has expressed concerns over the delay in the appointment of full-term vice-chancellors (V-Cs) at the state-aided universities. Speaking on the matter, Basu emphasised that Chief Minister (CM) Mamata Banerjee had already approved the names of the V-Cs and there is no justifiable reason for the prolonged hold-up in finalising the appointments.
To date, Governor CV Ananda Bose, who is also the Chancellor of all state-aided universities, has approved the appointments of V-Cs for 13 out of the 31 universities under the state Higher Education department. However, 18 universities are still without permanent V-Cs. Recently, the Chancellor also approved the appointments of V-Cs for two additional state-aided universities under different departments, including Tirtha Kumar Dutta for the West Bengal University of Animal and Fishery Sciences. The Search-Cum-Selection Committee, chaired by former Chief Justice of India UU Lalit, prepared a panel of three candidates for each of the 34 universities. These names were sent to the Chancellor, with the CM setting a final order of preference. With the recent approvals, 15 universities now have permanent VCs, leaving 19 still awaiting approval from the Chancellor.
Minister Basu, commenting on the delay, said: “We are hopeful that the appointments of V-Cs in all universities will be completed soon. There is no reason or justification for this delay and it directly disregards the Supreme Court’s directives.” He added: “The CM has shown remarkable patience and courtesy throughout this process. We have tolerated enough barriers in the state’s higher education sector and this process must not be delayed any further.”
On Thursday, at the inauguration of the two-day ‘Bhasha Mela’ organised by the Institute of Language Studies and Research (ILSR), Basu expressed regret that the process had not been completed yet. He said: “If all 31 universities under our department had their V-Cs in place and the process had not been delayed, we could have celebrated together.”
