Kolkata: A group of senior academics, including former vice-chancellors and emeritus professors, has called on Governor RN Ravi, who serves as the ex-officio chancellor of state universities, to withhold his approval for the West Bengal Universities and Colleges (Administration and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026. This bill was passed by the West Bengal Assembly on September 10. The academics express concerns regarding the implications of the inter-university transfer provisions within the legislation.
They said transferring staff from one institution to another would damage the structural balance of institutions and hamper teaching and research programmes. They raised concerns over potential disruptions to research programmes. Among the signatories were Amita Chatterjee, professor emerita at Jadavpur University (JU) and former vice-chancellor of Presidency University; Ashok Ranjan Thakur, former vice-chancellor of West Bengal State University and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology; Sabyasachi Basu Ray Chaudhury, former vice-chancellor of Rabindra Bharati University; Anupam Basu, former director of NIT Durgapur; Sukanta Chaudhuri, professor emeritus at JU; and Supriya Chaudhuri, professor emerita at JU.