Bengal to introduce bill to make the CM varsities’ chancellor

A TMC LEADER SAID THE DECISION WAS TAKEN BECAUSE GUV DHANKHAR HAD BEEN RAISING QUESTIONS ON THE SELECTION OF V-CS

KOLKATA: The West Bengal cabinet on Thursday decided to table a bill in the state assembly to replace the governor with the chief minister as chancellor of all state-run universities, education minister Bratya Basu said, a move that is seen as a fallout of the battle between chief minister Mamata Banerjee and governor Jagdeep Dhankhar.

“The cabinet unanimously decided that the chancellor of all state-run universities will be the chief minister in place of the governor. This decision will be placed before the legislative assembly in the form of a bill during the next session and a law will be passed,” Basu told reporters after the cabinet meeting. There has been no reaction from Raj Bhawan to the decision. According to the governor’s official website, Dhankar is the ex-officio chancellor of 17 universities in Bengal.

A TMC leader, who did not want to be quoted, said the decision was taken because Dhankhar, in his capacity as chancellor, had been raising questions on the selection of vice-chancellors which was the prerogative of the state government.

The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) reacted sharply to the Bengal cabinet’s decision.

“Mamata Banerjee wants to have all powers in her own hands. This is one such move in that direction. She wants to run an authoritarian regime where nobody can question her actions. This is a tactic to divert people’s attention from burning issues,” said Bengal BJP’s chief spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya.

TMC state general secretary Kunal Ghosh took on the governor.

“A governor enjoys a constitutional post but this governor is an agent of the BJP,” Ghosh said.

Former principal of Kolkata’s Presidency College, which is now a university, Amal Mukhopadhyay said the government’s action will politicise the education system.

“The state’s education system will be adversely affected by political interference,” he said.