Kolkata: West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose, serving as the chancellor of state-run universities, made significant appointments on Sunday by appointing interim vice-chancellors for seven universities in the state, including prestigious institutions like Presidency University, MAKAUT, and the University of Burdwan.
Among these appointments, Prof Raj Kumar Kothari has been designated as the Interim Vice-Chancellor of West Bengal State University, as reported by PTI. Additionally, Justice Subhrakamal Mukherjee, who currently holds interim responsibility for Rabindra Bharati University, will also assume the role of Interim Vice-Chancellor at Presidency University.
Prof Debabrata Basu has been selected as the Interim Vice-Chancellor of Uttar Banga Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, while Prof Tapan Chanda will serve as the Interim Vice-Chancellor of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology. Prof Gautam Chakraborty has been entrusted with the charge of the University of Burdwan, while Prof Indrajit Lahiri will take on the role of Interim Vice-Chancellor at Netaji Subhas Open University.
Prof Shyam Sundar Dana was appointed Interim VC of West Bengal University of Animal and Fishery Sciences.
Sources said the interim vice-chancellors of nine other universities have also been finalised and appointment letters “will be issued soon”.
The governor took the decision in order to “mitigate the problems faced by students”, they said.
Among the universities for which interim vice-chancellors have been appointed, it is notable that five of them had earlier seen officiating vice-chancellors resign due to threats issued to them, the sources said.
The criteria for selection of the interim vice-chancellors were eligibility, suitability, competence, willingness and desirability, the sources added.
In an earlier interview to PTI, the Governor had pointed out that the Calcutta High Court has said that on appointments of vice-chancellors, the governor needs to consult the state government, but has upheld that he does not need the state’s concurrence in appointment of VCs.
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He had also stated that university statutes do not state that vice-chancellors have to be necessarily academics.
“I have appointed a former chief justice and a retired IPS officer as officiating VCs because of their qualifications,” he had said, adding, “Anybody can be appointed as Interim VC”.
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