Edu min terms meet with Guv and V-Cs ‘historic’

kolkata: Terming the meeting between the Vice-Chancellors and the Governor as historic, state Education minister Bratya Basu said that there will be no differences but only coordination between the Raj Bhavan, Nabanna and Bikash Bhavan in the days to come.

“From now on, the Raj Bhavan, Nabanna (state secretariat) and Bikash Bhavan (the main office of the Education department) will work in close coordination. If there had been differences earlier, it will be a thing of the past,” Basu said on Tuesday following Governor CV Ananda Bose’s interaction with the Vice-Chancellors. This is the first meeting held by Bose, the Chancellor of the state universities, with the Vice-Chancellors since his taking over as Bengal’s Governor in November 2022. Education minister Bratya Basu, Principal Secretary Manish Jain, Commissioner of School Education Subhra Chakraborti were also present.“The meeting has taken place under the instructions of the Chief Minister. It has been a very encouraging and fruitful discussion. The Honourable Governor has spoken individually with all the Vice-Chancellors and learnt about the intricate details regarding the functioning of their universities. They have shared their opinion regarding the good and the bad for their respective universities,”Basu said.

The Governor also termed the discussion as enlightening and informative.“The gist of the meeting has been opening of different avenues of education before our new student generation so that they can take Bengal forward. It has been an extremely erudite interaction and some of the Vice-Chancellors have given excellent ideas which will be taken into consideration for further advancement in education,” the Governor said.Bose added that education is the most powerful tool in ushering changes in society.

“There will be a new Bengal and it will show the way to the country and the world,” he said.The Governor was also shown a 15-minute presentation on the functioning of the Education department. “We have shown him what work has been done and what will be done further. He has observed the same very carefully and has also shared his valuable opinion,” Basu said.

During the tenure of former Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, the state government had allegedly faced several bottlenecks in the smooth functioning of the educational institutions and the state government had passed a Bill in the state Assembly replacing the Governor and appointing CM as Chancellor of universities.

However, Basu on Tuesday addressed Governor Bose as Chancellor on more than one occasion indicating clearly that any difference with Raj Bhavan will be a thing of the past.