On Teachers Day, the already existing collision course of Nabanna and the Raj Bhavan may just have worsened to a political warpath.
Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, while addressing on Tuesday a gathering of students and teachers at a government function to felicitate outstanding performers with Siksha Ratna, lashed out at Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose and threatened to impose a funds embargo on universities and colleges who choose to abide by Raj Bhavan diktats. The backlash came as in the wake of the Governor’s recent moves to bypass the state and appoint officiating vice-chancellors of his choosing while also issuing administrative directions to university authorities in his capacity as Chancellor.
Banerjee even threatened to sit in a dharna before the Raj Bhavan if she found that the state’s authority over universities allegedly continued to be infringed upon.
“If the Governor thinks he would take charge of everything and that an elected government has no role to play or if he believes that he supersedes the chief minister, then he is mistaken because the state government formulates policies, not him. If you keep interfering in (affairs of) colleges and universities and if those institutions decide to follow you then I will impose a financial embargo. This will be our tit-for-tat. There won’t be any compromise on this. Let’s see how you pay salaries of the teachers of colleges and universities,” Banerjee, referring to the ongoing stand off between the state and the Raj Bhavan, said with education minister Bratya Basu, chief secretary HK Dwivedi and finance secretary Manoj Pant in attendance on the stage.
“Have you ever heard of a Jadavpur University VC getting appointed at midnight, surpassing 16 others? Suddenly I get to know that a former IPS officer from Kerala, having no experience in the education sector and who doesn’t fulfill the prerequisite of 10 years experience in professorship, has been named VC of a sensitive institution like Aliah University. The Rabindra Bharati University has an ex-judge for VC who I know because he was my classmate at the Masters level. I have nothing against him but he has never been a professor. He may have acumen in legal matters but not in education. This means there’s a concerted effort to make the education sector collapse on itself. We will not allow this conspiracy to take place,” the chief minister said in connection with some of the recent appointments the Chancellor has made.
“I direct my education minister, chief secretary, home secretary and finance secretary to take care of this (mess). We will have to fight this battle well. And if we feel that our rights are being infringed upon and federalism is being undermined, that I will be forced to sit in a dharna before the Governor’s house because I will not allow the education system to collapse,” Banerjee declared.
Calling the recently-appointed officiating VCs “illegally authorized persons”, the chief minister continued with her attack against the Governor. “I would urge him to get back to university studies and better utilize his time than doing what he is doing. Or he can keep doing what he wants but he must remember that his own house is maintained by the state government. Even a cup of tea he offers his guests is sponsored by the state treasury. We, the people of this state, pay for the airfare of your guests from Kerala who you keep inviting to your house. We will not accept these unethical moves and I tell all concerned to not be afraid (of him). He can issue appointment letters, but he can’t pay their salaries,” she sounded unrelenting.
The Bengal government has already moved the Supreme Court challenging the Governor’s appointments after the Calcutta High Court upheld the Chancellor’s jurisdiction in making them, the next hearing of which is scheduled on September 15. Meanwhile, the state Assembly has passed the West Bengal University Laws (Amendment) Bill which seeks to replace the Governor as Chancellor of all state-aided universities with the chief minister and accommodates the provisions of an earlier promulgated Ordinance of a reconstituted search committee for VCs. The Bill currently awaits the Governor’s nod, leaving the state government high and dry.
“We are challenging these appointments. We have passed Bills in the Assembly. He (the Governor) never sends back any Bills and holds them back. The Constitution mandates him to return the Bills, except those on matters of finance, with or without assent and if those Bills are passed again, then they become laws. That’s basic political science knowledge,” Banerjee vented.