The time-honored secretary of the West Bengal Vice-Chancellors’ Council on Saturday stated no convocation was held on the campuses of the kingdom universities in the closing two years due to the pandemic, as Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar lamented that he was once not being invited to the ceremonies even though he used to be the chancellor. Alleging that the state of universities in West Bengal was once worrisome, Mr Dhankhar at a programme on Friday stated he was once unable to “sleep at night” because of the situation.
“What the governor has said does not replicate the actual situation. How many convocations were held on campuses in the remaining two years? Please understand how the pandemic affected everything,” Subiresh Bhattacharya, the normal secretary of Upacharjya Parishad or VC Council, told PTI . Addressing the National Students’ Convocation of the Institute of Cost Accountants of India, Mr Dhankhar also raised situation over “unionism of the VCs” against him, referring to the conferences that he had called, which have been ducked via 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 VCs will go as per the rules. The governor is our chancellor,” he said.
The Vice-Chancellor of every other nation university, who refused to be identified, said the governor was once invited to the convocations of Jadavpur University and Calcutta University in December 2019 and January 2020, respectively, however confronted protests with the aid of students. “After that, the pandemic happened.”
The problem escalated to a political fist-fight between the opposition BJP and the ruling TMC. “What the governor said is very authentic and it does not carry glory to the kingdom if the VCs of state universities treat him in such a manner at the behest of the Trinamool Congress government,” BJP spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said.
Mr Bhattacharya claimed he used to be instructed with the aid of the VC of a private university how he used to be suggested after attending a assembly convened by using the governor. TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh stated the governor ought to introspect how he used to be acting in favour of the BJP. “The governor is attempting to grow to be a tremendous authority through summoning the VCs and issuing letters questioning one of a kind moves of the Higher Education Department,” Mr Ghosh said. The Higher Education Department refused to comment on the fiasco.