Left opens doors to private varsities, Ambani walks in

During a meeting with the chief minister in July 2006, industrialist Anil Ambani had proposed to set up a world-class institute on information technology near Kolkata.

The Rs 100-crore project, to be named after his late father Dhirubhai Ambani, will come up in 18 months. The institute will be the state’s first full-fledged private university and the second such institute from the Ambani group after the one in Gujarat.

The state government has already identified the land for the university at Kalyani, nearly 50 km north of Kolkata.

The Trinamool Congress criticised the Bill and demanded that it should be sent to a select committee for reconsideration.

Senior TMC legislator Sougata Roy said: “The government will have no control over the proposed institution. The decision of the government cannot be admitted.”

“The state government is toeing the line of Gujarat. One may say that Narendra Modi’s way is Left Front’s way,” said Roy, participating in the discussion on the Bill.

State Higher Education Minister Sudarshan Roychoudhury said the government will have to meet the demands of students.

“Setting up of some government colleges cannot ensure quality education in the state,” he added.

According to a source in the CPM, several party hardliners had opposed Bhattacharjee’s plan to invite private players in education sector and argued that the state government should control the sector.