University Grants Commission (UGC). | Photo Credit: Sushil Kumar Verma
A committee of academicians appointed by the West Bengal government on the University Grants Commission (UGC) draft regulation submits its report to the State government on Thursday (January 30, 2025). They offered multiple recommendations and changes in the regulations. Committee members condemned the attempts made to undermine the federal structures and called for a redrafting of the regulations.
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The committee in its report has called for the selection and eligibility criteria for any University’s Vice-Chancellor (VC) appointment mentioned in the draft regulations “catastrophic”. According to their observations, the academicians who were part of the committee have said that the appointment process meets no basic educational standards and opens multiple avenues for “politicising” of the academic posts.
The Committee led by Prof. Debnarayan Bandopadhyay and seven other academics like, Prof. Nimai Chandra Saha, Dr. Dipak Kumar Kar, Prof. Omprakash Mishra, Prof. Sabuj K Chaudhury, Prof. Sauren Bandopadhyay, Dr. Debajyoti Konar and Convenor of the Committee Shri Siladitya Chakraborty submitted the report to Minister of Higher Education Bratya Basu.
Members said that the State Government must oppose the selection process where the role of the State government has been nullified, giving disproportionate power to the Central authorities.
Professor Om Prakash Mishra commented on their findings and recommendations and told The Hindu, “The committee has completely debunked the idea that the VC can be a non-academic person. UGC recommended that imminent members from other walks of life can also hold the position. We strongly recommend that this position be solely reserved for academics.”
In other major recommendation, Prof Mishra highlighted that there is a need to form a “non-discriminatory” committee which has representation from both Central and State governments to ensure that the scale of powers is balanced on both sides and the selection process remains fair.
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Along with these two major recommendations, the committee also said the attempts made by these regulations for lateral entry are condemnable. “The regulations cannot be accepted. It needs to be redrafted by the UGC after taking recommendations from all stakeholders and getting them involved in the process,” added Prof Mishra.
Published – January 31, 2025 04:10 am IST
