‘We’re not guv’s servants, have other work to do’

‘We’re not guv’s servants, have other work to do’

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Kolkata:  17.07.2020

Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said she and her government were not Raj Bhavan’s “servants”, and their “only job was not to answer the governor’s queries”.

Banerjee’s riposte came around five hours after governor Jagdeep Dhankhar repeated his litany of charges against her government, including its alleged lack of response to his queries.

A livid Banerjee held up a bunch of papers during the press briefing at Nabanna, showing the answers her government had given the governor. “I responded to his queries four times on Wednesday,” she said. “Beshi barabari hochchhe (It is getting too much),” she added, referring to the governor’s charge of a “politically caged education” system in Bengal.

‘Guv speaks like politician’

Earlier in the day, Dhankhar had threatened to crack the whip on vicechancellors of state-run universities (of which the governor is chancellor) for giving his virtual conference the miss. He said he would have to set in motion action to “deal with their (the VCs’) conduct in accordance with the applicable act”, prompting the higher education department to issue a statement that the governor was crossing his brief on grounds that acts and rules could be challenged only in a court of law.

Banerjee accused the governor of speaking like a politician. “I respect the chair he holds, but we also expect some courtesy from him. The governor is speaking like a political party man. It’s getting too much,” she said. “How many times in a day should I talk to him? We have jobs other than responding to the Centre’s queries. He can question us, can say that a BJP person was murdered before getting the post-mortem report,” the CM hit out.

The governor had also trashed the West Bengal Vice-Chancellors’ Council, terming it a “trade union”. “No other state has this forum,” he said. “This forum has met four times, and on each occasion it was against the chancellor.” The chief minister took strong exception to the comment. “Allow VCs to work with self-respect. Any vindictive action will spark reactions across Bengal,” she said, advising the governor to take a look at the state of affairs in UP universities and central universities such as JNU and Jamia Millia Islamia.

The chief minister also objected to Dhankhar’s asking the VCs to ensure that students do not have to pay beyond the stipulated fees during admission to colleges this year. “The governor doesn’t know that college admissions have gone online since the last two years,” she said.

The governor said he wanted the government and state universities to come out with a clear action plan on how they were dealing with students’ issues — from redrawing the academic calendar, deciding on the mode of examination and the degreeawarding process during the pandemic. “I have been in touch with the UGC chairman and have been updating him about the plight of students who keep on posting their anxiety to me,” Dhankhar said.

Banerjee said she had already written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to get the UGC to re-examine its revised guidelines issued in July, and restore its earlier guideline that had asked universities and colleges to devise an alternative evaluation process during the pandemic. “The state government, in consultation with the VCs, has worked out an evaluation method. I would urge the governor to have patience and leave certain things to the administration,” the chief minister said.