- Calcutta University is seeking legal opinion on whether it could still continue with its career advancement (promotion) scheme for teachers following an advisory from the higher education department asking universities to “abstain from violating provisions” of a state government act “in extending CAS Benefit”.
- Jadavpur University, prodded by the advisory, will ask the department whether it can authorise the pro-vice-chancellor to function as VC for the evaluation by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC).
An advisory issued by the Bengal education department on Monday, which imposes several curbs on state-aided universities because they are headed by officiating VCs, has led to concern about careers among the teaching community and anxiety among the university administrators about how to discharge their responsibilities.
The advisory bars the universities from offering promotions and holding meetings of the court/senate/governing board and syndicate/executive council and other bodies of the universities or convocations without the state government’s approval.
The advisory says: “That it has come to the Knowledge of the State Government that CAS (career advancement scheme) benefits were extended to the teaching staff of the University in violation of Section 3(1)(ii) of the West Bengal Universities (Control of Expenditure) Act, 1976 & in absence of Govt order in this regard. You are requested to abstain from violating aforesaid provisions in extending CAS Benefit.”
Governor C.V. Ananda Bose, who is ex-officio chancellor of all state-aided universities, said the advisory is “uncalled for”.
In a press statement, he said: “The advisory is uncalled for and the subject matter itself is questionable. It is based on a misunderstanding and misinterpretation of the Acts and Statutes of the West Bengal Universities. No state-aided university of West Bengal is ‘under the administrative control of Higher Education Department, Government of West Bengal’. All State-aided Universities are autonomous body corporates and guided as per constituting Acts relevant to those Universities. ‘State Aid’ does not imply administrative control.”
Santa Datta, the officiating VC of Calcutta University, told Metro on Tuesday: “We are consulting three experts. Personally, I think that since offering promotion is an internal affair, the university should not have any trouble offering the benefit. But we are awaiting the experts’ opinion.”
Promotions are not the only worry on campuses.
Teachers of several universities said the advisory had gone a step beyond a rule that the department had enforced in 2019.
The West Bengal State Universities (Terms and Conditions of Service of Vice-Chancellors and Manner and Procedure of Official Communication) Rules, 2019, stated the “person holding charge of the office of the vice chancellor… shall not hold any meeting of the Senate Court/ Governing Board or the syndicate/ Executive Council of the University without prior permission of the State Government”.
“But Monday’s advisory says approval is required to hold meetings of other bodies as well. A university has so many bodies, including the boards of studies, the faculty council and the admission committee. According to the advisory, the university has to take permission to hold meetings of all such bodies”, said Sanatan Chattopadhyay, the secretary of the Calcutta University teachers’ association.
Parthapratim Roy, the secretary of the Jadavpur University Teachers’ Association, said meetings of at least 20 bodies are held at JU in a week on average. “If the university has to take permission to hold the meetings of all these bodies, the day-to-day activities of the university will come to a standstill,” Roy said.
A forum of university teachers said in a joint statement on Tuesday: “If implemented, this (advisory) will take away the last few remaining points and areas of autonomy.”
The officiating VCs were appointed by the governor, in his capacity as ex-officio chancellor of state-aided universities, allegedly bypassing the state government.
A member of the teachers’ forum said: “Teachers are entitled to the promotion in accordance with UGC regulations. How can they be denied promotion?”
The chancellor has authorised JU pro-VC Amitabha Datta to function as VC for the NAAC visit.
The chancellor had last year appointed Buddhadeb Sau, a professor of mathematics at JU, as officiating VC. But since he has not been attending office since late December, the university could not put the name of VC in the self-declaration form, which is a must for the NAAC evaluation.
“When we contacted the chancellor, he authorised the pro-VC to be the VC for this specific purpose. But we will consult the department about this,” said JU registrar Snehamanju Basu.
An official in the state higher education department said the advisory is based on rules that have been framed following assent from the Assembly. “We have acted within the law,” the official said.