Reject appointments, education minister Bratya Basu tells 11 interim vice-chancellors picked by governor C V Ananda Bose

KOLKATA: Education minister Bratya Basu on Thursday urged 11 academics - whom governor C V Ananda Bose, the chancellor of state-run universities, had "appointed" as interim vice-chancellors - to reject their postings, indicating the state government may challenge the "illegal" appointments legally. Raj Bhavan later extended an "olive branch", saying further appointments would be made in consultation with the government and other stakeholders.
Basu said the appointments were not done "in consultation" with the higher education department. "In the backdrop of this unprecedented situation, the state education department is seeking legal opinion on steps to take in future. The department respectfully urges the illegally appointment vice-chancellors to reject their appointments," Basu tweeted.
Earlier, Basu had said the appointments were "completely contrary" to existing statutes and "illegal", indicating the state would challenge the appointments. "The systemic deadlock and the overt politicking by Raj Bhavan is disrupting the academic environment and can impact performance," said a senior official. "CU and JU have always ranked high in assessments, including NIFR."
After this, Raj Bhavan issued a statement justifying the appointments but extending a "proverbial olive branch": "The Chancellery informs that further appointments as interim Vice-chancellors will be done accommodating the views of government and other stakeholders."
Took middle path, says Raj Bhavan on appointments
Raj Bhavan claimed that it had taken the "middle path" in the 11 appointments. Education minister Bratya Basu, according to a Raj Bhavan release, wanted a "blanket extension for all interim VCs."
Raj Bhavan said only those who complied with its directives had been given an extension, with those who hadn't not even considered for fresh appointment.
The state had strongly objected to the university activity reports sought by the governor, bypassing the state.
While the back-and-forth was on, and definitely before Basu "respectfully urged" the appointees not to take up their appointments, some of them were learnt to have formally taken charge of their new roles, although no one would officially confirm that. Also, at least one pro-VC has asked the state to be relieved of his role, sources said. This, too, could not be confirmed.
In the governor's order, JU's pro-VC, Amitava Dutta, was asked to officiate as interim VC at the university, while Shanta Dutta, a CU professor and former dean, was tasked as interim VC in CU.
Sources said Debashis Bandyopadhyay, an English professor at RBU, was made interim VC of Kazi Nazrul University, Kalyani University's commerce professor Amalendu Bhuiya was made interim VC and Rajkumar Kothari, a political science professor, was appointed interim VC of Sanskrit University. None of these appointments mentioned any duration.