Controversies at the Visva Bharati University just do not seem to stop. Trinamool Congress MP Asit Kumar Mal has now raised the issue of misgovernance and highlighted allegations of autocratic and unscrupulous behaviour against Vice-Chancellor Dr Bidyut Chakrabarty at the Parliament on December 9. Speaking during the Zero Hour in Parliament, Mal said that it is time for the Chancellor, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, should intervene to save the institution which, he said, is in deplorable conditions.
The TMC MP said that there have been innumerable allegations against the current VC. The allegations range from financial corruption to suspension of protesting staff to withholding salary and even pension of the staff. "The staff and the professors are extremely troubled with anxiety because the VC has created an atmosphere of panic only to enforce his supremacy," said Mal.
Mal has now asked the PM, who is also the Chancellor of the varsity founded by Rabindranath Tagore, to take note of the issue and intervene to save the institution. Dr Chakrabarty's tenure, ever since he took charge in November 2018, has been marred with controversies and constant clashes with the staff and students. The VC has taken some kind of action against at least 300 staff members in these years of his tenure. But the varsity has been making headlines ever since late November when the NAAC team visited the campus – be it the low NAAC grade or the video of the VC saying he is not invested in working for the university even though he has the power to do so. But letters to the Education Minister hasn't borne results yet, said Mal.
