BENGAL GOVERNOR APPOINTS 10 V-CS, TMC GOVT TERMS DECISION ILLEGAL

West Bengal governor CV Ananda Bose on Thursday appointed 10 senior professors as vice-chancellors (V-Cs) of as many state-run universities, in a fresh standoff between the Raj Bhavan and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government, which termed the move “illegal”, according to education department officials.

The governor, who is also the chancellor of all 31 staterun universities, met the 10 senior professors earlier this week before taking the decision on Thursday, a Raj Bhavan official said, requesting anonymity.

There was no official statement from the Raj Bhavan on the appointments. State education minister, Bratya Basu, however, termed the move “illegal” and urged the professors to “refuse the appointments”.

“I came to know of the appointments from a section of the media. V-Cs were appointed at 10 universities in violation of the laid down process. The education department was kept out. This is completely illegal,” Basu said in a tweet. “We are seeking legal opinion to decide our next course of action,” he added. “The V-Cs appointed illegally are being requested on behalf of the higher education department to refuse the appointments.”

According to officials, the tenure of 29 V-Cs ended last year, following which their services were extended till May 31. The extension was ordered following meetings between the state government and the governor at Raj Bhavan on February 28 and March 1. However, the Calcutta high court on March 14 overturned the extension order, saying the state had no power to appoint, re-appoint or extend tenure of V-Cs.

Recently, the state government started the process to form search committees to select new V-Cs, officials said.