Days after West Bengal Governor C. V. Ananda Bose asked Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for information regarding the utilization of Rs 1.17 lakh crores of Central funds allocated to the State for the 2023-24 under various schemes, he was shown black flags by the members of Trinamool Chhatra Parishad (TMCP), the student wing of ruling Trinamool Congress, at the University of Calcutta here on Thursday.
The Governor’s letter was prompted by information that the State Government has failed to submit several Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) reports to the Assembly, thereby breaching its constitutional duty. Today, as soon as the Governor arrived at the university’s main campus on College Street to distribute certificates to new PhD holders, the TMCP members, besides waving black flags, shouted “go-back” slogans.
The TMCP members alleged the Governor, who is also the chancellor of the University of Calcutta, had “illegally” appointed a Vice-Chancellor to the university. They also accused the Governor of molesting a temporary Raj Bhavan staffer and demanded justice.
They also alleged that since the Vice-Chancellor appointed by the Governor is an acting vice-chancellor, the university’s annual convocation cannot be organised without a permanent Vice-Chancellor. The TMCP activists alleged that the Governor was indirectly organising a “camouflaged” convocation ceremony in the name of the distribution of PhD certificates, which was against the university’s “tradition”.
The protesters also alleged that barring some professors, who are extremely close confidants of the Governor-appointed acting vice-chancellor Santa Dutta, others were not allowed entry to that certificate distribution venue. Later, Dutta claimed that none of the protesters were university students. “The protesters were there to vitiate the academic ambience on the university campus. But they will not be successful in their attempts to malign the image of this iconic university,” she said.
The Raj Bhavan and the State Education Department have been at loggerheads for long over the issue of Vice-Chancellors’ appointments for different state universities in West Bengal. Several times in the past, the State Government and the ruling Trinamool Congress have accused the Governor of appointing interim Vice-Chancellors for different State universities completely bypassing the State Education Department. On the other hand, there had been claims from the office of the Governor that the appointment of interim vice-chancellors was necessary to restore the proper academic atmosphere at the state universities.
Raj Bhavan sources said that the relationship between the Governor and the Chief Minister had hit rock-bottom. The source further revealed that the Governor’s letter was prompted by information that the state government has failed to submit several Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) reports to the Assembly, thereby breaching its constitutional duty. “The West Bengal Government has been allotted Rs 1.17 lakh crore of Central funds in the financial year 2023-24. There are allegations of gross misuse of those funds. The fiscal situation of West Bengal is confronting multiple fiscal risks and public financial management issues,” the source said.
