KOLKATA: West Bengal government on Monday told the
Raj Bhavan
and university registrars that all communication between state-run universities and the chancellor (the governor) should be routed through the higher education department.
The government demanded that governor C V Ananda Bose withdraw a circular he had issued on Saturday, stating that varsities were not bound to listen to the state government’s directives.
The government’s communication came hours after Bose – ex officio chancellor of state universities – appointed officiating vice-chancellors of 16 universities, including Presidency, Makaut and Netaji Subhas Open University in Kolkata.
Reacting to the move, education minister
Bratya Basu
described Bose as a “James Bond… on a one-man mission to destroy the higher education system”. The government would take legal steps against Bose, he said, adding “no one is above law”.
Trinamool Congress is likely to move a resolution against Bose in the assembly.
Reminding the governor that he could only act within the ambit of existing statutes, the government said Bose’s notification violated the statutes and misinterpreted Supreme Court orders.
“For the past few days, directives have been issued one after the other by Raj Bhavan regarding appointment of vice-chancellors, only to accentuate chaos in universities,”
Basu
said, accusing Bose of appointing “puppet VCs”.
The minister claimed there was a pattern in the action of Bose and the governors of other non-BJP states. “The governor is acting like an agent of the Centre to disturb, to destabilise an elected government,” he told reporters.
