Chief Minister should replace Governor as varsities' Chancellor, says West Bengal Edu Minister

West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar and the state government are at loggerheads once again. On Friday, education minister Bratya Basu said chief minister Mamata Banerjee should replace the governor as Chancellor of all universities in the state, citing Dhankar's alleged "non-cooperation and hostility".

Dhankar, on his part, said the education scenario in the state was "worrisome" after chancellors and vice-chancellors of private universities did not attend a meeting he had called on Friday.

"There is continuous interference and lack of cooperation. The state government is considering a proposal to nominate chief minister Mamata Banerjee as Chancellor of all state universities," Basu said, citing the ongoing tussle between the Governor, who is Chancellor of all universities in the state, and the government.


Basu also indicated that the state government was studying the legal feasibility of Constitutional amendments for the change.

"We can have the Chief Minister as Chancellor till a new governor is appointed. Files are kept pending for an indefinite period and then there is continuous hostility," Basu said.

Earlier in the day, Dhankar took to microblogging platform Twitter to say that no vice-chancellor or representative of private universities had turned up for the meeting and termed it "shocking unionism". He had called for such a meeting a couple of times earlier as well and had expressed his grievance previously too.

In the tweet, Dhankar attached videos and photographs of empty chairs at Raj Bhawan.