'I am not a political person', says new Rabindra Bharati University VC

KOLKATA: Justice Subhro Kamal Mukherjee, who took over as the interim vice-chancellor (VC) of Rabindra Bharati University (RBU) here today, said he is not a "political personality" and will take along every stakeholder while performing his role. The appointment of a retired judge for the academic post is unprecedented since the establishment of the university over six decades ago.

Mukherjee is a former chief justice of Karnataka High Court and was appointed as the interim VC on Wednesday by West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose, who is its chancellor. The debate on his appointment has reached beyond the university campus. He visited the RBU Jorasanko campus in north Kolkata, the ancestral residence of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore and offered prayers, today.

When asked about the roadmap with regard to the implementation of NEP 2020, Mukherjee told PTI he will listen to the academics associated with the state university. "See I am not a political person. I have just taken over. Let me talk to everyone concerned. There are eminent educators in various fields who are associated with the institution. I will listen to them. Whatever decision they take, I hope will be in its best interest," he said.

RBU registrar Subir Maitra said that Mukherjee took over charge on Friday, visited different rooms of the university associated with the memory of Tagore and met varsity officials and faculty members at RBU and B T Road campuses. An official of the university said the institute's admission portal has already been opened for the new four year under graduate honours course from July 1 as per NEP 2020, but with the interim VC at the helm the process for convening the university executive council meeting will be now facilitated to frame the curriculum for different courses as per the choice based credit system guidelines.