WB appoints the VC of Bengal University, against the Governor’s preference

The West Bengal government chose a new Vice-Chancellor for Diamond Harbour Women’s University (DHWU) on Friday, January 14, 2022, hours after Chancellor and state Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar appointed someone who professed “unwillingness” to take the position on personal grounds.

Following Prof Anuradha Mukhopadhyay’s departure, the Education Department named Prof. Soma Bandyopadhyay as the VC of DHWU.

Bandyopadhyay was the acting vice-chancellor of Sanskrit College and University, as well as the full-time chancellor of the West Bengal University of Teachers’ Training, Education Planning, and Administration (WBUTTEPA).

“The authority has decided to assign Prof Soma Bandyopadhyay the charge of the office of the VC of Diamond Harbour University with effect from 15.01.22 in addition to her customary duties as Vice-Chancellor of WBUTTEPA,” the department said in a notice. According to the notification, Mukhopadhyay, the outgoing VC of DHWU, has been appointed as the VC of Sanskrit College and University.

The department had submitted Bandyopadhyay’s name as the VC of DHWU to the chancellor for his approval on Thursday. In his capacity as Chancellor, however, the government promoted the varsity’s Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Prof Tapan Mondal, to the top position in the varsity.

On Friday, the Governor tweeted that an “unfortunate judgemental view” of his directive had been taken and that Bandyopadhyay had been charged anew.

Bratya Basu, the Minister of Education, requested the “honorable nominated chancellor” to work with the State administration, which was “elected” for the third time in a row, in a tweet.

“Don’t keep your combative attitude and try to push your will on the higher education department. Best wishes to the VCs who have been legally appointed “Mr. Basu expressed this in a Bengali tweet.

He used the hashtags respect democracy’ and ‘quit shadow fighting’ in his post.

The Minister had previously chastised the Governor for calling a meeting of heads of higher educational institutes on his own and questioning the procedure for appointing vice-chancellors in state-run universities, alleging that he was acting on the BJP’s orders and exceeding his constitutional authority.