‘Govt doesn’t want autonomy’: West Bengal university teachers oppose centralised recruitment plan

West Bengal university professors have opposed the government’s proposal to centralise faculty recruitment through a proposed West Bengal University Service Commission, stating that the move would undermine institutional autonomy and allow the government to influence appointments, the Telegraph reported.

A Presidency University teacher in the report alleged that they suspect similar restrictions will be imposed once the government starts recruiting university professors through the university service commission.

Parthapratim Roy, a professor of physics at Jadavpur University, said in the report: “Under the existing UGC norms, the interview panel for NET (National Eligibility Test)-qualified candidates includes the governor’s nominee, the UGC’s nominee and the university’s own subject experts.”

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West Bengal Inter University Transfer Bill

“The university’s physics department, for instance, decides whether it wants to recruit a professor in the field of astrophysics or nuclear physics or materials physics,” Roy said in the report.

Another professor from Jadavpur University stated in the report that their main contention while protesting the Inter University Transfer Bill was that universities were their appointing authorities and the government could not unilaterally transfer them.

“By acquiring the powers of appointment through the proposed service commission, the state government now wants to make the transfer of teachers easier and recruit teachers of their preference. But what is being proposed would not stand legal scrutiny,” said Manas Ghosh, another JU professor, in the report.

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Sagarmoy Ghose, Calcutta University professor said that the university knows best the quality of teachers it is looking for, and that is how it “evolves as a centre of excellence.”

In several Western universities, recruitment is further decentralised and handled by individual departments, which are best placed to assess their specific requirements, the report read.

“This government does not believe in autonomy. That is why they passed the Inter University Transfer Bill in the Assembly to transfer teachers from one university to another without bothering about the rights of the universities. This disregard for autonomy has prompted the government to propose a university service commission,” Ghosh, a microbiology professor and secretary of the Calcutta University Teachers’ Association said in the report.

The government has also set up an 11-member commission to examine the proposal and provide expert guidelines for setting up the proposed body.