Governor ‘dismisses’ govt’s claim of not being consulted

“Consultation does not mean concurrence,” said Bose on the sidelines of a programme held at Raj Bhavan.

Calcutta, Jadavpur and Burdwan universities are among the 11 varsities where interim VCs have been appointed by the Governor, who is the chancellor of all the state-aided or run varsities.

Sources in Raj Bhavan claimed that 10 interim VCs, barring one in Dakshin Dinajpur district, joined duty and signed the guidelines issued by the Chancellor.

“The interim vice-chancellor of a university in Dakshin Dinajpur district was getting threatening calls from unidentified people, hence he chose not to join,” a source in the state education department said.

Hours after the governor’s office issued a list appointing interim VCs on Thursday, Basu said the Raj Bhavan’s decision was “unilateral” and “violates the law”.

“We came to know from the news media that the honourable chancellor has appointed vice-chancellors of 10 state-aided universities. These appointments were made without consulting the department. This was done in contravention of the rules laid down for the appointment of VCs and this is illegal. In these unprecedented circumstances we, on behalf of the department, are taking legal opinions on what steps could be initiated in future,” Basu tweeted.

“On behalf of the higher education department, we are respectfully requesting the vice-chancellors who have been appointed illegally to reject this appointment,” the minister tweeted.

In an apparent response to Basu’s tweet, the governor said, “Raj Bhavan clarifies that consultation in the matter of appointment of interim VCs or authorising someone to perform the functions of an interim VC has been done.”

Meanwhile, the Governor also organised a conclave of 11 newly appointed V-Cs at the Raj Bhavan, Kolkata. The V-Cs apprised the Bose, who is also Chancellor of the state-run universities, of their resolve to bring up university education in West Bengal as the best in India.

A source in the Raj Bhavan said on Friday, “Amid the confusion posed by the statements made by Mr Bratya Basu and his tweet, all the V-Cs of the 11 universities have joined duty and signed the guidelines issued from the Chancellery.”

When mediapersons pointed out to the Governor that the education minister has described his decision as “illegal” as he (minister Basu), was not consulted, Governor Bose said, “Consultation does not mean concurrence.”

The expelled V-Cs on Friday held a press conference in Kolkata, and criticised the “removal of V-Cs who followed proper procedures while submitting reports to the education department. They also highlighted the “extension of terms of those vice-chancellors who violated the law by directly sending reports to the Raj Bhavan.”

During the press conference, the former vice-chancellors stressed the importance of protesting against these actions to prevent anarchy. Former VC of North Bengal University Om Prakash Misra said, “According to a 2019 Act, Vice-Chancellors are not allowed to communicate directly with the governor, and the governor cannot seek reports directly from the V-Cs.”