Governor C.V. Ananda Bose, who is also chancellor of state universities, met a delegation of teachers of Netaji Subhas Open University on Wednesday afternoon to hear about the inconveniences the institution has been facing in the absence of a vice-chancellor.
Bose met the teachers, who said at a news conference on Monday that important decisions had been kept pending at the university, at West Bengal State University, Barasat.
The open university has been without a VC since the tenure of Ranjan Chakrabarti as interim VC ended on March 14.
Manan Kumar Mandal, president of the teachers’ association at the open university who was part of the team that met the chancellor, said they told Bose that “a stalemate-like condition has been created” in the university’s governance.
“Be it the functioning of the study centres or printing and distribution of study materials, all activities have hit a deadlock. We need a vice-chancellor to take decisions on these issues. We requested the chancellor to ensure than an interim VC is appointed at the earliest,” said Mandal.
An official at the university said the problems have compounded because there is no provision to appoint a pro-VC. Institutions like Calcutta and Jadavpur universities have pro-VCs who are empowered to carry out administrative functions in the absence of a VC.
Mandal said they had also informed the chancellor that the university’s finance officer, who was on deputation, will retire on April 30 and the registrar is a superannuated officer.
The Telegraph reported on Tuesday that as the university had not heard anything from the state government on who would be the next finance officer despite repeated communications, the teachers and officials were worried about getting their salaries on time.