Kolkata, Sep 3 A fresh notification from the office of the West Bengal Governor, C.V. Ananda Bose virtually bringing down the level of state government authority on state universities to zero has opened yet another channel of confrontation between the Governor’s House and state secretariat.
In the notification it has been clearly said that the faculty and non- faculty staff members of all state universities are answerable first to the chancellor and then to the vice- chancellor. The Governor himself, by virtue of his chair, is also the chancellor of all state universities.
In the fresh notification from the Governor House, it has also been mentioned that the state government might give instructions to the state universities' authorities, but those instructions are not binding on the universities authorities or employees.
It has also been informed in the notification that any instruction from the state government or state education department to any state university will become valid only if that is cleared by the vice- chancellor.
On September 1, the Governor announced that he as the chancellor of the state universities will play the role of interim vice-chancellors for state universities where the chairs of the functional heads are currently vacant.
The decision attracted scathing criticisms from the state education minister Bratya Basu who said that the state government will move to the Supreme Court against the decision.
This fresh notification bringing down the level of state government authority on state universities to zero has also attracted scathing criticism from the state’s ruling party leadership which has described the move as an attempt on part of the Governor to run a parallel administration in the state.
The opposition BJP has, however, described the move as a step in the right direction to secure the autonomous nature of the universities free from political decisions imposed on them by the state government.
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