West Bengal to appoint VCs of 8 state universities after approval from Supreme Court

KOLKATA: Decks have been cleared to appoint full-time vice-chancellors of eight state universities in West Bengal, which remained without regular heads for over two years with interim VCs appointed by the governor discharging responsibilities, a senior official of the higher education department said on Monday.

The move comes following a consensus reached between the state government and Governor C V Ananda Bose before the Supreme Court, the official told PTI. The official said that a Supreme Court bench was handling the matter of appointing permanent VCs in 13 universities , based on recommendations made by a committee led by former Chief Justice UU Lalit.

"Decks have finally been cleared for the appointment of VCs of eight universities with no 'impediment' as a consensus has been reached between the state government and Governor C V Ananda Bose before the apex court," the official said.

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New VCs at Calcutta, Jadavpur, Raiganj Universities

The long-standing stalemate over appointments arose from differences between Raj Bhavan and the state government, with the governor earlier appointing interim VCs without consulting the state, drawing criticism from the Mamata Banerjee-led administration.

According to the official, academic Ashutosh Ghosh is being considered for the post of vice-chancellor of the University of Calcutta , while former Jadavpur University registrar and pro-VC Chiranjib Bhattacharya is a likely contender for the top post at Jadavpur University . Former North Bengal University Vice-Chancellor Omprakash Mishra is likely to be reappointed to the post, while Arnab Sen has been proposed for Raiganj University.

Ashis Bhattacharya may take over as VC of Gour Banga University, Uday Bandyopadhyay has been suggested for Kazi Nazrul University, Chandradipa Ghosh for Sadhu Ramchand Murmu University, and Abu Taleb for Biswa Bangla Biswabidyalaya.

"Once Raj Bhavan notifies the names of permanent VCs of the eight universities factoring legal issues and SC's stand on the matter, we will go ahead with the formal appointment process," the official said. The higher education official said names of VCs of five other state universities remain unresolved and subject to future hearing at the SC.