Kolkata: West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose on Thursday asserted that he will continue his fight to make state universities free of corruption and violence. His comments come at a time when the state government and the Raj Bhavan are embroiled in a war of words over the appointments of interim vice-chancellors of some state universities by the governor who is also Chancellor of all state universities.
Speaking about the Raj Bhavan's recent move to appoint interim VCs, Bose in a video message said, "I have appointed them as the apex court ruled against some of the appointments earlier made by the state government." Alleging interim VCs appointed by him were being harassed, he said "five (interim) VCs had to resign. Why? They told me they were being threatened by goons, senior IAS officers were pressuring them. This is what the (interim) VCs told me in confidence. That is why five of them resigned. I did not ask them to resign. They resigned out of fear."
"There were allegations of corruption, sexual harassment and political interference against some VCs who were earlier appointed," he claimed. About the claims by the state government that he was overstepping his limits by appointing interim vice-chancellors of state universities, Bose said "The Hon'ble Supreme Court has ordered you (higher education department) ... your action was held illegal. The VCs appointed had to resign. Who will then be the VC? In such a situation I appointed interim VCs."
After the initial appointment of interim VCs by him a few months back the state Education department described the action as wrong, "The high court observed my action was right," Bose said. Elaborating on the allegations against some of the VCs of state universities, he said, "There are charges of corruption against some, charges of harassment of female students by some others, while some others are involved in a political game. That is the reason I could not go by the choice of the state while appointing interim VCs."
"I want universities in the state to be free of violence, free of corruption and be the best in India," Bose said. He vowed in the name of Rabindranath Tagore, Netaji Subhas Chandra and Swami Vivekananda to continue to fight for a "corruption-free academia". Referring to the recent death of an undergraduate student of Jadavpur University about a month back, he said "This was one of the saddest moment of campus cannibalism."
"An innocent boy, a 17-year old youth, lost his life... in a great university like JU. I am taking a vow, I am swearing by the name of Netaji, Rabindranath Tagore, Swami Vivekananda we will fight this battle till the end. This death will come under the scope of investigation," he said. Bose said Bengal's Gen Next is the state's biggest asset.
Quoting Tagore's 'Banglar Mati Banglar Jol' song, he said "We want to do some good work for Bengal. "I wish to see a Bengal whose talent pool of students and learned professors take our universities to the top rung, make our universities as the best in the country," he said. Naming Tagore, and Swami Vivekananda as the great luminaries of Bengal, the governor said "Let us fight against corruption. Let us fight for our children."
His response came days after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's blistering attack against him during a Teachers' Day programme, where she accused him of interfering in the state's education system, and threatened to sit on a dharna outside Raj Bhavan if the governor continued to function in this manner. Attacking Bose over the appointments, Banerjee had on Tuesday alleged that the governor was appointing interim VCs according to his whims by ignoring the state-appointed search committee.
Noting that VCs must be picked from the names suggested by the five-member search committee, she alleged that Bose was appointing people at his will with no regard to the suggestions of the panel. She had promised a 'tit-for-tat' action and threatened to block funding to all state universities that followed the governor's directions.
"I will see how you give salaries to these vice-chancellors (appointed by Bose)," she had said. In his capacity as Chancellor of West Bengal's state universities, the governor had appointed eight interim VCs recently. In a recent interview to PTI, Bose had said the Calcutta HC has said that on appointments of VCs, the governor needs to consult the state government, but has upheld that he does not need the state's concurrence in appointing VCs.
Referring to the student death in JU, he had said "Our universities have become highly politicised. ... "Universities are suffering from hooliganism which outsiders have imported into the campus," he had said. Bose had also said while he will "cooperate with the state, that support may not extend to whatever it does." (PTI)
