Summary
The university, to which colleges in North 24-Parganas are affiliated, had last held its convocation on February 25, 2020, when Jagdeep Dhankhar was the chancellor
West Bengal State University, Barasat, has decided not to hold its convocation on February 24 as it has yet to get the governor’s nominees to the court and the executive council, officials on the campus said.
The governor is the ex-officio chancellor of the university.
University officials said the convocation could not be held without the executive council and the court approving the formalities for the event. And since the governor is yet to name his nominees to the council and the court, meetings of the two highest decision-making bodies of the university cannot be convened.
The university, to which colleges in North 24-Parganas are affiliated, had last held its convocation on February 25, 2020, when Jagdeep Dhankhar was the chancellor.
In 2021 and 2022, the convocation could not be held because of the pandemic-induced shutdown of the campuses. The ceremony could not be held last year allegedly because of lack of preparations.
An official at the university said the officiating vice-chancellor, Raj Kumar Kothari, wanted to hold the convocation this year and contacted Raj Bhavan with the request that the chancellor’s nominees to the two bodies be named.
“The meeting of the bodies cannot be held until the nominees are sent. Since the nominees have not been sent, the university has decided not to hold the convocation on February 24,” said a university official.
Metro sent an email to governor C.V. Ananda Bose seeking his comments on the matter. Bose wrote back: “Your email is received and is being examined.”
Kothari said: “We won’t hold the convocation on February 24. We will try to hold the convocation later. We are unable to convene the meeting of the decision-making bodies as we don’t have the chancellor’s nominees. So we could not decide on holding the convocation on February 24.”
Kothari, who is also officiating VC of Sanskrit College and University, said they were working on ways to issue the degree certificates to the graduating students so they are not inconvenienced.
Suvodoy Dasgupta, who teaches at a college affiliated to the Barasat university and is president of the West Bengal College and University Teachers’ Association,
said: “It is unfortunate that the university could not hold the convocation. An attempt is being made to cripple universities. The university must ensure that the interests of the graduating students are protected.”
Last updated on 15 Feb 2024
