Summary
The governor, who is the ex-officio chancellor of the state universities, shall choose a VC from the panel
The state government on Monday promulgated the West Bengal University Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2023, to constitute a five-member search committee that will include a nominee of the chief minister and recommend a panel of names to the governor for the selection of a vice-chancellor.
The governor, who is the ex-officio chancellor of the state universities, shall choose a VC from the panel.
Although the government through the ordinance has expanded the search committee from three to five-member, a nominee of that particular university will no longer feature on the list.
The search committee before the promulgation of the ordinance comprised nominees of the concerned university, the chancellor and the higher education department.
The ordinance says: “The search-cum-selection committee shall be constituted in the following manner:— (i) a nominee of the chancellor, who shall be the chairperson of the committee;(ii) a nominee of the chief minister; (iii) anominee of the chairman, University Grants Commission; (iv) a nominee of the State Government; and (v) a nominee of the chairman, West Bengal State Council of Higher Education.”
Since the chief minister’s nominee will be part of the search committee, the ordinance has inserted a “clause” in the Act of each university that says “Chief Minister means the chief minister of the government of West Bengal”.
Education minister Bratya Basu tweeted on Monday evening: “The search committee will have a representative of the chief minister instead of the representative of the university’s court, governing board or senate…. It was a must that the search committee had a nominee of the UGC in accordance with what has been instructed by the UGC. The nominee of the chancellor shall be the committee’s chairperson.”
“The governor represents the central government. So does the chairman of the UGC. If the two from the central government represent the committee, in that case, the state government can keep more representatives in the search committees.... It is worth mentioning, this ordinance has been promulgated in consultation with the chancellor,” Basu said.
On March 14, Calcutta High Court told the government to “amend” its acts to ensure that appointments to the post of VC in state-aided universities are made in conformity with the UGC Regulations 2018, which say that the search committees must have a UGC nominee.
“Since the state was directed to make amendments..., we had to bring the ordinance,” an education department official said.
Last updated on 16 May 2023
