West Bengal Education System Under Political Influence and chancellor bill
Lord Krishna protected one Draupadi during her disrobing. Now, another Draupadi, Draupadi Murmu, our Honorable President, tried to save West Bengal education system from the edge of collapse. Since the incident happened on 15 December, one may also say that Santa Claus gave Bengalis an early Christmas gift.
However, because of the heated political climate around the Special Intensive Revision, this quiet but far-reaching development did not receive the media attention it deserved.
Courtesy: Rozana Spokesman
The incident is this. The West Bengal Assembly passed a bill to make the Chief Minister the Chancellor of all state-funded universities, instead of the Governor. The name of the Bill was The West Bengal University Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2022. After a long delay at Raj Bhavan, the Governor sent the bill to the President. However, President Droupadi Murmu declined to sign the bill. As a result, it could not become a law in West Bengal. Therefore, by virtue of his office, the Governor remained the Chancellor.
Unending Governor–CM conflict
For a long time, continuous delays in West Bengal forced most universities to run with interim vice-chancellors. The main reason was the conflict between the Governor and the Chief Minister. Gradually, both sides took the matter to the level of personal ego clashes.
As a result, the vice-chancellors split into two opposing groups. Whenever the Governor called a meeting, the vice-chancellors appointed by him attended. However, those appointed by the state government stayed away. Reports reveal that the Education Department issued unwritten and unofficial instructions to them. Because of this, almost every university suffered in some way.
Courtesy: Rediff
Later, the matter went to the Supreme Court. Finally, the Supreme Court appointed a former judge for the completion of the entire appointment process. Ironically, because of politics and ego, Bengalis had to endure this harsh experience.
Finally the denial of the president in approval of the bill has been able to bring all in the meeting with the Governor.
From CPM to TMC: Politics and West Bengal Education
In fact, unfortunately, the politicization of West Bengal education system is not new. For almost fifty years, this practice has continued, and no ruling government has wanted to end it. Earlier, when she was in the opposition, Mamata Banerjee strongly opposed this system . She even promised in her election manifesto to end the politicization of education.
However, there is a huge difference between Mamata Banerjee as an opposition leader and Mamata Banerjee as a ruler. Even today, almost every college has a political leader at the top of its governing body. In many cases, one person controls more than one college. We saw the worst example of this in Rani Birla Girls’ College. Because of this, conflicts continue in many colleges.
Anilayan to Mamatayan in West Bengal Education
That fascinating phrase became a new coinage, created to describe a new phenomenon. It coinage was Anilayan. That was during the CPM era. Back then, the CPM’s Bengal headquarters at Alimuddin Street controlled the education sector. Late Anil Biswas was the main architect behind this system. After the political change in 2011, the same structure slowly turned into Mamatayan. However, Bengal still failed to free its education system from the polluted air of politics.
So, the question is, can we not appoint an educationist as the head of a college governing body? At least, we could then expect some degree of neutrality.