Kolkata: The proposed Bill to replace the Governor with the Chief Minister as the chancellor of all state-run universities in West Bengal will be tabled in the Assembly for clearance during the forthcoming Monsoon Session starting June 10, sources said.
Going by Trinamool Congress’ numerical strength in the Assembly, the state government will have no problem in getting the proposed Bill passed with a comfortable majority.
However, the state government will then have to send the Bill to Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar for his assent. State Education Minister Bratya Basu has already said that in case the Governor refuses to clear the Bill, the state government will pass an ordinance to bring the changed system into practice.
Debates have already started over the proposed Bill with a large section of educationists describing it as a direct attempt by the ruling party to gain political control over the functioning of the state universities.
Dhankhar himself has slammed the move, calling it a diversionary tactics by the state government to shift attention from the ongoing controversies in the state, including the CBI probe into the recruitment irregularities in the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC).
The Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, has claimed that Trinamool Congress’ wish to see Mamata Banerjee as the chancellor of state universities will remain a distant dream, just as the Chief Minister’s dream to set up a legislative council in West Bengal.
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