The students’ forums of Presidency University have stated in separate statements that the appointment of a non-academic person as officiating vice-chancellor of Presidency reflects a “blatant disregard for the established protocols” by the governor and “represents a concerning new low”.
Suvro Kamal Mukherjee, the officiating vice-chancellor of Rabindra Bharati University who demanded that an iron grille be erected in the administrative block of the university’s BT Road campus to save him from employee protests there, was given additional charge of Presidency University by governor C.V. Ananda Bose on September 4.
The governor is the chancellor of state-aided universities.
Mukherjee is a former Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court.
Independents' Consolidation, a students' forum at Presidency, said in its statement: “The appointment of Mukherjee represents a concerning new low. Mukherjee lacks any connection to academia, lacks the necessary experience or academic qualifications to lead a university, and his arbitrary appointment by the governor, who has been closely aligned with the BJP government in the Centre, bypasses the established, albeit imperfect, process of VC selection.”
The SFI unit of Presidency University said: “This appointment, made without the approval of the West Bengal state government's search committee, raises significant concerns and indicates a blatant disregard for the established protocols and federal framework of the education system.”
Barishan Ray of the Independents’ Consolidation said they were concerned about "the arbitrariness of the chancellor" because this could hamper the "independence that Presidency has been known for".
Calls, emails and text messages from this newspaper to the chancellor on Thursday failed to elicit any response.
Several teachers of Presidency University said they "were dismayed" and "horrified" by the appointment.
“The previous full-term vice-chancellor who was selected by a search committee constituted by the state education department did everything to suppress plurality on the campus. We all know how marquee teachers left the institute because they could not accept this atmosphere, which was the least accommodating. But what is sad is that the chancellor seems to have made things more difficult with erratic appointments. Presidency will suffer as the other universities are suffering because of this battle between the state government and the chancellor,” said a teacher.
Anuradha Lohia was the previous Presidency vice-chancellor. Her nine-year tenure ended in June this year.
Sugata Bose, the chairperson of the now-dissolved Presidency Mentor Group who teaches oceanic history at Harvard University, told The Telegraph in a text message: “The appointment (of Mukherjee) was most unfortunate. VCs should be appointed through proper searches as soon as possible.”
