Author: Sunando Sarkar
Publication: The Telegra
Date: April 24, 2002
It's a snub from a Governor who
seems to have a mind of his own. And one that the Alimuddin Street-controlled
higher education thinktank has never faced before.
Two distinguished academicians not
known for their CPM links - IIT-Kharagpur director Amitabha Ghosh and IIM-Calcutta
director Amitava Bose - have been picked as the Chancellor's nominees to
the decision-making body of Jadavpur University, making it a never-before
occurrence since the party consolidated its control over educational bodies.
Not that the party machinery did
not try. The Alimuddin Street thought-control process had picked two men
known for their strong CPM allegiance - Prabir Raychaudhuri and Basudeb
Barman, as the Chancellor's nominees, said officials. Raychaudhuri is a
CPM state committee member and a Chancellor's nominee for the past three
terms. Barman became vice-chancellor of Kalyani University at a time when
it had become impossible for anyone to hold a senior university position
without strong CPM links (refer to Subhankar Chakraborty, Bharati Mukherjee
and Surabhi Banerjee).
The Calcutta University (CU) Senate
and Syndicate, too, will make it clear how the party's writ is law, vis-à-vis
'Chancellor's nominees'. Some names that crop up are P.N. Ray who, after
a stint as CU pro vice-chancellor , is now a member of the State Planning
Board and in the Senate as a "banking profession representative"; Sukumari
Bhattacharji, Oriental studies scholar but linked to 'progressive and secular'
movements spearheaded by CPM fronts; and Shyamapada Pal, one of the seniormost
leaders of the CPM-controlled West Bengal College and University Teachers'
Association.
But Governor Shah, say higher education
department officials, has opted to strike a different path in JU. "He has
shown (yet again) that he has a mind of his own," one of them said, referring
to Shah's often no-nonsense views, vis-à-vis educational institutions,
and to his CU convocation address last year.
"A Governor picking every nominee
to a university body on merit alone is unthinkable now," he added, explaining
that Shah could have put his foot down as JU was one of the few educational
institutions here to have got acclaim from all over India.
Shah's office, however, did not
want to get embroiled in any controversy. Shah himself was not available
for comment and joint secretary to the Governor K.D. Gautama said "nothing
much" should be read into the nominations of Bose and Ghosh.
"The files came from the higher
education department, like any other year, and the choices were those of
the Chancellor, after consultation with senior officials," he said, adding
that there had been no deviation from procedure.