The recent notification by the West Bengal government about rejigging the search committees meant for the appointment of Vice-Chancellors in state universities has caused a stir in academic circles of the state.
The academicians are especially critical of the omission of the provision for having a representative from the state university concerned in the panel, as per a report by IANS.
Under the proposed system as per the ordinance, the five-member panel should have one representative nominated by the chief minister, one by the state education department, one by the state higher education council, one by the University Grants Commission (UGC) and one by the governor, who is also the chancellor of all state universities.
Academicians react…
Calcutta University Teachers' Association (CUTA) General Secretary Sanatan Chattopadhyay says that this new system of panels with any representative from the state university concerned is bound to face legal hassles just like the previous system faced since it had no representative from the UGC.
"The UGC proposal speaks in support of the inclusion of a representative from the state university concerned in the search panel. Moreover, this decision for the omission of the provision for having a representative from the state university concerned in the panel is an attack on the autonomy of the universities," he said.
According to the Jadavpur University Teachers' Association (JUTA) General Secretary Partha Pratim Roy, the formation of the new search committee has been done to maintain the numerical supremacy of the state government so that making politically-motivated decisions is easier.
"The proposals of UGC regarding the formation of search committees have been totally ignored in this ordinance. We strongly condemn the decision," IANS quoted him saying.
Economist Probir Kumar Mukhopadhyay also said that the decision is quite whimsical considering that the state university concerned for which a vice-chancellor will be appointed will have no say in the appointment process.
"This is surely done with a political motive and is an attack on the autonomy of the state universities. In the previous system following the Left Front rule, which was also followed by the current Trinamool Congress regime in the first three years of its tenure since 2011, the state government official had no role in the vice chancellor's appointment. I am not against the state government having its own representative in the search committee. But that should not be at the cost of a representative from the state university concerned," he said.
