3 min readKolkataMar 8, 2025 09:29 AM IST
First published on: Mar 8, 2025 at 09:29 AM IST
A meeting convened on Friday by Governor C V Ananda Bose, who is also Chancellor of all universities in the state, days after the violent protests on the Jadavpur University (JU) campus in Kolkata, was marked by the notable absence of JU Vice-Chancellor Bhaskar Gupta. The meeting, originally scheduled for 5:30 pm, commenced nearly an hour later.
Sources claimed that Gupta, who is hospitalised, had earlier planned to attend the meeting virtuallly. He, however, claimed that the hospital had imposed restrictions on mobile phone usage, limiting his access and added that he informed the Governor via a message, explaining that he was adhering to medical advice, the sources said.
The meeting, which saw the physical presence of 10 V-Cs and the virtual attendance of eight others, focused on the rising incidents of violence on university campuses. Governor Bose, addressing mediapersons after the meeting, expressed concern over the issue.
On March 1, the SFI, AIDSO and other Left students’ organisations gathered in front of State Education Minister Bratya Basu’s convoy on the university campus, demanding students’ union elections across the state. During the agitation, some protesting students allegedly vandalised the minister’s car. On the other hand, it was also alleged that the minister’s convoy ran over one protesting student, Indranuj Roy, who was injured and later admitted to a private hospital.
He highlighted the need for universities to implement mental health support services and indicated that he would discuss “two critical issues” with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
A statement issued by the Raj Bhavan later in the day said, “In the meeting, a few salient consensus points emerged such as different universities have different ecosystem to function in and hence the issues they face may be different and hence need to be addressed differently.The University’s rapport with the local population was crucial in its discharging its role as temple of knowledge and cater meaningfully to society. Different university cells such as Monitoring Cells, Counselling Cells, Disciplinary Committees, etc need to be made operational and function as per their mandate.”
One person who attended the meeting said the Governor expressed concern over two issues. “The first issue is rising incidents of campus violence in the state and second is rampant consumption of addictive substances within campuses,” he said.
During the meeting, it was mentioned that V-Cs should form a close bond with the students and modern surveillance systems, security infrastructure, anti-drug campaigns must be put in place and made functional. It was also mentioned that the students should be sensitised about the provisions of the Acts and Statutes concerned, and the framework they would need to be in.
According to sources, there was a consensus on steps to bolster campus security using modern technology.
During the meeting, it was mentioned that V-Cs should form a close bond with the students and modern surveillance systems, security infrastructure, anti-drug campaigns must be put in place and made functional. (Express photo) 
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