Teachers' Body Opposes West Bengal Universities and Colleges Bill 2017

Several college teachers' bodies of West Bengal have vehemently opposed the move of the state government on the much discussed West Bengal Universities and Colleges Bill 2017 on administration and regulation. The bill is set to be tabled in the Assembly on Thursday, 9 February 2017.

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The bill was supposed to be tabled in the Assembly of the state on 9 December 2016. As per the regulations of the bill, only eminent educationists of the state would be nominated as the president of the governing bodies of the college. Through the bill, the government wanted to curtail the presence of the ruling party in the governing bodies of the colleges. But the government faced oppositions within its own Trinamool Congress Party and from the left parties. Bowing to political pressure, the government put the bill on hold and brought several changes in the bill. The new bill comes with new provisions. Instead of “eminent educationists” it has been changed to “persons interested in education” in the bill.

Teachers of state colleges and universities have alleged that with the changes in the provisions, the government has only compromised with the autonomy of the institutions. State's educationists feel that the move would now open doors to members of the ruling party to get nominations for the president of the governing body.

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General secretary of West Bengal College and University Teachers’ Association (WBCUTA), Shrutinath Praharaj said that previously, the university and college governing body used to decide who would be a part of the governing body and its tenure. Now as per the proposed Bill, the government would decide all these provisions. The government is also empowered to dissolve the governing body. The teachers allege that the new Bill proposes to minimise the autonomy of the academic institutes and hurt the interest of the colleges and universities.