Rabindranath Tagore-founded Visva-Bharati, the only Central university in West Bengal, has a new officiating Vice-Chancellor — the third in 10 months — and this absence of a full-time head, according to teachers, is impacting the functioning of this iconic institution.
The university has issued a notification that Binoy Kumar Saren, principal of Siksha Bhavana and a member of the executive council of Visva-Bharati, will take over as the Vice-Chancellor from Arabinda Mondal on September 1. Prof. Mondal took charge in June, replacing Sanjoy Mallik, who took over in November 2023 from the last full-time V-C, Bidyut Chakrabarty.
In Visva-Bharati, the senior-most principal of a faculty, who is also a member of the executive council, officiates as V-C in the absence of a full-time occupant of the post. The post of the principal itself is rotational. A search committee is reportedly working to finalise a full-time candidate.
“This absence of a full-time V-C for nearly a year has had an adverse effect on the university, mainly in important fields such as research and recruitment or even regular activities including admissions,” a senior teacher who does not want to be mentioned told The Hindu.
“Can you imagine, we are the last among universities in Bengal to start the admission process — everywhere else admissions are almost over and we are just about beginning. In the last few years, Visva-Bharati has seen nothing but factionalism.
Each time a new V-C takes charge, he reverses the decisions of his predecessors, and people are simply transferred. Nothing constructive is happening, not even about maintaining the heritage status of Santiniketan,” the professor said, adding: “I hope the new officiating V-C maintains the status quo and does not order transfers.”
Visva-Bharati has seen a downslide in its academic reputation over the past few years with politics taking over the campus and teachers being divided into factions.
The Visva-Bharati University Faculty Association, a prominent teachers’ body, that had been at loggerheads with Prof. Chakrabarty, the last full-time V-C, on Saturday (August 31, 2024) issued a statement welcoming the new officiating V-C.
“We would like to extend our congratulations to Prof. Binoy Kumar Saren on his appointment as the interim Vice-Chancellor. We are committed to wholeheartedly cooperating with him during his tenure. At the same time, we hope that Visva-Bharati will soon have a permanent V-C in place,” said Kausik Bhattacharya, secretary of VBUFA.