The Educationists’ Forum, an umbrella body of professors and former vice-chancellors, reacted sharply on Friday to Governor CV Ananda Bose’s suggestion to the state government to relieve education minister Bratya Basu for allegedly violating the model code of conduct.
They alleged a planned conspiracy to undermine and demolish higher education orchestrated by the chancellor of the 31 public universities of West Bengal. False accusations against senior academicians of the state, misrepresentation before the high court and the Supreme Court, arbitrary removal of authorised VCs, have been part of the chancellor’s manifold illegalities against the Higher Education system.
The forum members said, faced with a comprehensive rebuttal of his pretension and illegalities by the state through a detailed order addressed to the registrars of the universities based on extant laws, the chancellor is trying to save face through a ridiculous ‘report card’ , confusing the role of the chancellor with the Governor of a state. They alleged: “The report card does not mention that the Calcutta High Court has not recognised these authorised persons as vice-chancellors or even interim vice-chancellors and that these so called authorised persons cannot draw salaries of the VCs. The report card does not refer to the repeated Orders of the Supreme Court severely restricting the chancellor from any further authorisation/ appointment.
“In order to stall the appointment of the vice-chancellors in the universities of West Bengal, the Governor is not signing the Bill passed by the Legislative Assembly of the State constituting the selection committees for appointment of the Vice-Chancellors,” said Prof Omprakash Mishra, who teaches international relations at Jadavpur University.