The vice-chancellor of Rabindra Bharati University (RBU), Sabyasachi Basu Raychaudhury, requested the governor in his resignation letter mailed to Raj Bhavan on Wednesday that he be not considered for any further extension of tenure, the VC said.
Basu Raychaudhury was among the eight VCs of state-aided universities who resigned on Wednesday. The day before another six VCs had handed their resignation to Governor C.V. Ananda Bose.
The governor, who is ex officio chancellor of all state-aided universities, has extended by three months the tenure of the some of the VCs who put in their papers.
Basu Raychaudhury’s name featured on the list of 24 VCs in a PIL that an organisation of college and university teachers had filed in the high court.
The PIL had challenged the extension of the tenure of the 24 VCs on the ground that it did not have the approval of the then governor, Jagdeep Dhankhar.
Basu Raychaudhury, whose tenure will end on March 18, told The Telegraph: “My name featured in the PIL although the orders for the extension of my tenure were signed by Jagdeep Dhankhar and his successor La Ganesan. The education department told me to send my resignation to the current governor and seek a fresh extension. I have sent my resignation but requested the chancellor not to consider my name for any extension beyond March 18.”
The VC said he was not keen on any more extension because he wanted to return to academics and join the department of political science at RBU, where he is a professor.
In July last year, he had written to chief minister Mamata Banerjee expressing his wish to resign because of deterioration of the condition on the campus.
He alleged that a section of students and non-teaching employees, who claimed that they were active workers of Trinamul, was responsible for the worsening situation at the university.
Asked whether that tension prompted him to request the governor to not extend his tenure, he said: “If you don’t get a congenial atmosphere, it becomes difficult for you to continue.”
Consult with chancellor
An order from the governor on Wednesday read: “...the interim Vice Chancellors shall consult and seek prior concurrence of the Chancellor before taking policy decisions involving financial implications.”