Bengal Education Minister Bratya Basu took to social media handles and local newspapers to announce that the Chief Minister of Bengal would henceforth also be the Chancellor of all state-run universities. The CM Mamata Banerjee will be the Chancellor of all state-run universities if this bill gets ground and is passed in the State legislature.
The Education Minister also stated that the state cabinet had already given its nod to the proposal during the day. Therefore, since the state cabinet has already provided their nods to the proposal, it will now be introduced as a bill in the assembly. After it passes in the assembly, the Central Government will have to confirm it. Currently, the Union Government has not made any remarks regarding this bill or its proposal.
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At present, the Chancellor of all state-run universities in West Bengal is the governor, Mr. Jagdeep Dhankar. He has also not made any remarks or provided his own opinions regarding the matter. The Chancellor in almost all states in the country is the governor of the state. It is the duty of the Chancellor to appoint Vice-Chancellors for academic institutions (universities) that are run by the state. It is also the Chancellor who presides over coronation ceremonies and performs other responsibilities.
In Bengal, the Chancellor is the head of all the 17 universities which include Jadavpur University, Calcutta University, Kalyani University, Presidency University, Rabindra Bharati University, Burdwan University and North Bengal University, among several others.
The Government of West Bengal had earlier curtailed the power of the Governor by taking away his authority to appoint the Vice Chancellors in the state universities in 2019. The government led by Mamata Banerjee has now gone a step forward to drop the Governor as the Chancellor of universities. In April, the Tamil Nadu Government had also passed a resolution curtailing the Governor's power in appointing the VC in state-run universities. Maharashtra had also gone along the same grounds and passed a similar resolution.
Remarks on the matter from both sides have yet to be provided.
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