Page 28 - EW August 2023

Education News

admissible evidence. gress party leader, in 2019, he joined
Autar Nehru (Delhi) the TMC claiming it is the only party
that could take on the rising BJP in
WEST BENGAL the state. Mishra is also among for-
Governor vs. mer VCs, whose services were not ex-
tended by the governor, and who also

government (contd.) issued a press statement against Gov-
ernor Bose. Evidently, Mishra is being
targeted for raising his voice against
ithin a month of the pub- Raj Bhavan.
lic standoff between West Clashes between Raj Bhavan and
WBengal Governor, Dr. C.V. the Mamata Banerjee-led Trin-
Ananda Bose, and the Mamata Ba- amool Congress (TMC) government
nerjee government over the issue of have been recurring issues since for-
the former’s appointment of 11 inter- mer governor — and currently the
im vice chancellors of state govern- Vice President of India — Jagdeep
ment universities without consulting Dhankar was appointed Governor of
the education ministry (as reported Bengal in 2019. While in his mainly
on these pages last month), these two ceremonial position, Dhankar held
arms of government are at each other regular meetings with VCs, enquiring
again. On July 1, Raj Bhavan (gover- about their activities, assigning work
nor’s office) issued a circular man- and reminding them of their account-
dating appointment of “student vice ability towards the chancellor, i.e, chancellor of 12 state-run universities
chancellors” from among extraordi- the governor. In December 2019, the in the chief minister.
narily meritorious postgrad and doc- TMC government issued a GO (gov- Meanwhile in Bengal, with con-
torate students in state government ernment order) requiring university tinuous rifts between the government
universities. VCs to route all communications with and governor, disrupting the function-
Protesting this mandate, state ed- the Governor through the education ing of 25 state universities, policy de-
ucation minister Bratya Basu said: ministry. On June 13, 2022, it also cisions relating to recruitment, setting
“UGC norms clearly state that anyone passed a West Bengal University Laws the academic calendar, infrastructure
appointed as the vice chancellor of any (Amendment) Bill, 2022, appointing development, have been on hold.
state university will have to have mini- the chief minister as the chancellor of nd with the ruling TMC set to play
mum experience in the post of profes- all state government universities in Aa leading role in the new anti-BJP
sor, which means a total teaching ex- lieu of the governor. Unsurprisingly, coalition of 26 political parties named
perience to the tune of 20 years.” the Bill is pending in the Governor’s the India National Developmental
Moreover in the latest episode of office for the latter’s assent. Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) — an ac-
the continuing showdown between Face-offs in academia have be- ronym reportedly coined by Banerjee
Writers Building and Raj Bhavan, on come frequent in several states over herself, the stalemate in state govern-
July 19, the state government induct- the past few years, prompting state ment varsities is likely to continue.
ed former North Bengal University governments to legislate laws curb- Meanwhile with Banerjee focused
VC Omprakash Mishra into the ing gubernatorial powers over state on stitching the newly-formed INDIA
university’s Executive Council. Earlier universities. In 2022, the Tamil Nadu coalition together, academics in West
on July 2, Governor Bose had ordered assembly unanimously passed a Bill Bengal despair that education of its 28
an enquiry against Mishra based on vesting the power to appoint vice million children and youth is on the
allegations of irregularities during his chancellors in the state government. back-burner even as teacher recruit-
tenure as vice chancellor. Several other states have also passed ment for the state’s 92,000 govern-
Mishra’s appointment to the ex- such bills in the recent past, includ- ment schools and appointing VCs in
ecutive council is not undeserved. An ing the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha- the state’s 25 universities after their
alumnus of the top ranked Jawaharlal rashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition tenures ended in 2019, is still pend-
Nehru University, Mishra was former in December 2021, and Kerala chief ing. There is snowballing anger, with
professor of international relations minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s LDF gov- academia demanding urgent reme-
at Jadavpur University before he was ernment in 2022. Moreover, Punjab’s dial action and growing clamour that
appointed interim vice chancellor of AAP government unanimously passed educational goals should not be seen
North Bengal University (NBU) on the Punjab University Laws (Amend- through the prism of political colours.
September 29, 2022. A veteran Con- ment) Bill 2023, vesting powers of the Baishali Mukherjee (Kolkata)

28 EDUCATIONWORLD AUGUST 2023