Education minister Bratya Basu on Thursday said the Bengal government would want the Supreme Court to deliver a final order on the appointment of vice-chancellors in state-aided universities because the delay was triggering “disturbances, intolerance and anarchy” on campuses.
“The matter is pending in the Supreme Court. The honourable court is repeatedly deferring the dates (of hearing). We want the court not to push the dates back. Instead, we would want the court to give a clear verdict,” Basu said at a news conference at Bikash Bhavan, which houses the headquarters of the state education department.
“If the court wants the chancellor (the Bengal governor is the ex-officio chancellor of all state-aided universities) to control the entire affair, let the court say this.”
The minister said: “The fact that the hearing is being constantly deferred is creating a sort of disturbance, intolerance and anarchy on the campuses, which, under any circumstances, is not possible for Raj Bhavan to contain. We (the education department and Raj Bhavan) were supposed to work in unison. That is practical. This is
what the Constitution and the university rules say. The lawmakers said this after putting in a lot of thought. If someone wants to govern (the campuses) unilater-
ally, in that case, what was expected to unfold has unfolded.”
The education department had in August last year filed a special leave petition in the Supreme Court, challenging the chancellor’s authority to appoint temporary vice-chancellors in state-aided universities without consulting the department.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee went to Raj Bhavan on December 4 and discussed with governor C.V. Ananda Bose ways to solve what she called “pending problems” over the appointment of full-term VCs through search committees.
Mamata called on Bose three days after the Supreme Court asked the governor
and the chief minister to sit across the table and thrash out their differences over the appointment of vice-chancellors.
An education department official said the Supreme Court was expected to hear
the submissions of both sides and pronounce a verdict to end the impasse on campuses. “But the case has hardly been heard,” the official said.
The official referred to the situation at Jadavpur University to explain the impact of the ongoing impasse.
The governor had on December 23 ordered the removal of the officiating vice-chancellor of JU, Buddhadeb Sau, for daring to hold the annual convocation disregarding his advice.
But the state government has since repeatedly asked Sau to continue as VC.
Sau, however, has been abstaining from office citing the difference of opinion between the government and the governor. He said he would wait for the outcome of the case in the Supreme Court before deciding his move.
“Since the VC is not coming to office, the university cannot call meetings of statutory bodies such as the executive council to take administrative and policy decisions. The university has written to us seeking suggestions to end the impasse. Since the case is in the Supreme Court, we cannot suggest any measures,” the official said.
Even on campuses which have officiating VCs, things are hardly moving.
“The education department does not recognise the authority of these VCs. Most of them are scared of calling meetings of their decision-making bodies fearing reprisal from the department,” the official said.
Minister Basu said: “If we get an opportunity, we will inform the court about the difficulties the campuses are encountering.”