Row over Vice Chancellor’s post
After Sonali Chakraborty Banerjee’s appeal was rejected by the Supreme Court, a new ruckus was created in 23 other universities of the state.
At one time, the then Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar raised questions about the appointment of 24 vice-chancellors in the state. He alleged that all the appointments were made without his consent as Acharya. One of them is Calcutta University’s former Vice-Chancellor Sonali Chakraborty. The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the High Court ruling that the government’s decision to re-appoint him was not legal. But as a result, the question arose, what will happen to others this time? Many vice-chancellors did not comment on this. The Higher Education Department maintained silence over the matter
According to BJP’s leader of opposition in the state, Subvendu Adhikari, “After the Supreme Court verdict, it is the moral duty and obligation of all other university vice-chancellors, who have been appointed illegally, to resign.” On the other hand, State Trinamool General Secretary Kunal Ghosh said, “The party has nothing to say about this. Those who are in this legal process can tell.”
The list includes Presidency, Jadavpur along with Alipurduar, Panchanan Burma or Murshidabad, Bankura University. Regarding the matter, Devkumar Mukhopadhyay, vice-chancellor of Panchanan Burma University in Cooch Behar, Nimaichandra Saha, vice-chancellor of Burdwan University, Soma Bandyopadhyay, vice-chancellor of Diamond Harbor Women’s University in South 24 Parganas, Tapan Mandal, vice-chancellor of Harichand-Gurchand University in North 28 ParganasBankura University Vice-Chancellor Devanarayan Banerjee, Vidyasagar University Vice-Chancellor Shivaji Pratim Basura did not comment.
Mita Banerjee, Vice-Chancellor of Kanyashree University, Nadia, has been given the charge of Acting Vice-Chancellor of Murshidabad University. She said, “The higher education department has given me the appointment letter. I can’t say whether the Governor has approved it or not.” Jhargram Sadhu Ramchand Murmu University Vice-Chancellor Amiyakumar Panda claims, “I have been appointed as the Vice-Chancellor subject to the approval of the Acharya.”
If there is a problem with the vice-chancellor, what will be the impact on the universities? Sources claim that without the Vice-Chancellor, there will be no meeting of the Karma Samiti, Finance Committee, University ‘Court’. In that case, the result of the exam will not be published, the convocation will not be held, the way of spending money will be closed. Educationist Amal Mukherjee, former principal of Presidency College, pointed the finger at the state for the situation. He said, “This situation has arisen because the state government has decided to hire illegally.”
