Kolkata: State Education Minister Bratya Basu on Thursday said that the West Bengal cabinet has unanimously decided to replace Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as the Chancellor of all state universities.
“We will soon introduce a bill with necessary amendments in the assembly,” Basu said. Addressing the media at the State Secretariat.
Sources in the West Bengal government said that if the governor does not give his assent to the bill, the administration will “take the ordinance route”.
The tussle over university administration is the latest clash between Mamta and Dhankhar, who are known to share bitter ties.
When asked about the Bengal government’s decision, Union Minister of State for Education Subhash Sarkar said that the Center is looking at the guidelines of the University Grants Commission (UGC) before initiating any action.
“Education system should be above politics, it is the last nail in the coffin. The ruling party (Trinamool Congress) will now handle all the affairs of the state’s universities and colleges, this is a complete politicization of the education system in West Bengal.
“One must realize this, there will be a new chief minister in future and this may prove to be a disaster. That too at a time when the state government is facing a CBI probe over the School Service Commission (SSC). appointment error, This kind of decision is heard all over the country. We are following the UGC guidelines and will take action if required.
A similar controversy had started in Tamil Nadu in April, where the assembly amid a standoff between the DMK government and Governor RN Ravi. passed a bill To empower the State Administration to appoint Vice-Chancellors in the State Universities.
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Fresh Flashpoint Between TMC, Governor
Governor Dhankhar is the ex-officio chancellor of all state universities.
On 30 December 2021, Dhankhar took to Twitter alleging that due process was not followed in the appointment of vice-chancellors in 24 universities in the state.
In the same month, the chancellors and vice-chancellors of private universities in West Bengal failed to attend a meeting called by him at the Raj Bhavan citing Covid-19 protocols, with Dhankhar terming his absence as “shocking federalism”.
In April 2022, the Governor sought a report from West Bengal Chief Secretary HK Dwivedi on a viral video purportedly of the Vice-Chancellor of Alia University. being harassed by students. Governor Dhankhar had faced similar protests during the convocation of Calcutta University in January 2020 and Jadavpur University in December 2019.
The opposition CPI(M) termed the cabinet decision as “unfortunate”.
“It is very clear that Mamata Banerjee wants to control everything in this state, so why leave the universities? Is he even qualified to hold that position?” CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakraborty said.
(Edited by Amritansh Arora)
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