West Bengal Governor in war of words with Vice-Chancellors over functioning of universities

Noting that the state of universities in West Bengal was worrisome, Mr. Dhankhar at a programme on Friday said he was unable to "sleep at night" because of the situation

The general secretary of the West Bengal Vice-Chancellors' Council on April 30 said no convocation was held on the campuses of the State universities in the last two years due to the pandemic, as Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar lamented that he was not being invited to the ceremonies though he was the Chancellor.

Noting that the state of universities in West Bengal was worrisome, Mr. Dhankhar at a programme on Friday said he was unable to "sleep at night" because of the situation.

"What the Governor has said does not reflect the real situation. How many convocations were held on campuses in the last two years? Please remember how the pandemic affected everything," Subiresh Bhattacharya, the general secretary of Upacharjya Parishad or Vice-Chancellor Council, told PTI.

Addressing the National Students' Convocation of the Institute of Cost Accountants of India, Mr. Dhankhar also raised concern over "unionism of the V-Cs" against him, referring to the meetings that he had called, which were ducked by the Vice-Chancellors.

Mr. Bhattacharya, who is the Vice-Chancellor of the University of North Bengal, said, "There is a mechanism for calling such meetings. If the mechanism is followed, the V-Cs will go as per the rules. The Governor is our Chancellor," he said.

The Vice-Chancellor of another State university, who refused to be identified, said the Governor was invited to the convocations of Jadavpur University and Calcutta University in December 2019 and January 2020, respectively, but faced protests by students. “After that, the pandemic happened. The issue escalated to a political fist-fight between the Opposition BJP and the ruling TMC.”