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Former Sikkim DGP among 6 interim V-Cs appointed by Bengal Guv; minister reacts
The governor’s decision once again drew the ire of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government, which said that the appointments were done without consulting the administration.
West Bengal governor C V Ananda Bose, who is the chancellor of all 31 state-run universities, appointed interim vice-chancellors (V-C) at six universities on Sunday, once again drawing the ire of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government, which said that the appointments were done without consulting the administration.
Among those appointed on Sunday is C M Ravindran, a retired Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, who served as director general of police (DGP), Sikkim, and was also a deputy director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB).
Ravindran was made interim V-C at the University of North Bengal, education minister Bratya Basu told the media.
“We fail to understand how a governor can appoint people in this manner and how police officers can run universities,” Basu said.
On August 23, Ravindran was given the Governor’s Karmayogi Excellence Award at Raj Bhawan.
“Governor’s Karamyogi Excellence Award was bestowed upon Shri CM Ravindran, IPS Retd. by Hon’ble Governor Dr CV Ananda Bose for his exemplary service to the nation and to the society. The award carries an amount of 1 lakh rupees along with the citation,” the governor wrote on his official X handle on August 23.
In July, Bose appointed another retired IPS officer, M Wahab, who served in Kerala, as acting V-C of Kolkata’s Aliah University.
The same month, Bose appointed retired chief justice of Karnataka high court, Subhro Kamal Mukherjee, as acting V-C of Kolkata’s Rabindra Bharati University. In September, Mukherjee was made acting V-C at Kolkata’s prestigious Presidency University as well.
Sunday’s appointments were made days after the Supreme Court heard a petition filed by the state and said a search committee must be formed to select permanent V-Cs. On September 27, the Supreme Court sought the names of eminent people from various fields for inclusion in the search committee.
No Raj Bhawan official commented on Sunday’s appointments, which included acting V-Cs of Murshidabad University, Biswa Bangla University, Mahatma Gandhi University, Cooch Behar Panchanan Barma University and Alipurduar University.
The Educationists’ Forum, West Bengal, a pro-government body, expressed displeasure over Sunday’s appointments.
Om Prakash Mishra, who earlier served as vice-chancellor of the University of North Bengal issued a statement on behalf of the forum, which described the appointments as “open defiance of the power and authority of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India.”
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) defended the governor.
“As chancellor, it is the governor who appoints V-Cs and acting V-Cs. These are temporary appointments. He can use his discretion to select the incumbents,” said Sukanta Majumdar, the BJP’s state unit president who was earlier a professor of chemistry at a north Bengal college.
Bengal has been witnessing an impasse in the higher education department since last year when the tenure of V-Cs at 29 universities ended. Their services were extended till May 31 this year and the government started the process of forming search committees to select new incumbents.
On September 3, which too was a Sunday, the governor appointed acting V-Cs at 14 universities, bypassing the state.
Although rules of the University Grants Commission (UGC) stipulate that only eminent professors with administrative experience can be appointed as V-Cs, there are no clearly laid guidelines on qualifications of acting V-Cs, academicians said.
