Bill passed to replace Governor with Bengal CM as chancellor of another state university

The West Bengal Assembly passed a bill on Tuesday that seeks to replace the governor with the WB Chief Minister as the chancellor of the state’s University of Health Sciences. The University of Health Sciences (Amendment) Bill was passed with 134 votes in favour of it and 51 against, with the BJP opposing it.

The Bill was introduced by Minister of State for Health, Chandrima Bhattacharya, and was first passed by voice vote but later taken up for a vote by ballot at the insistence of the opposition BJP. Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar said that he will consider those bills without any “bias or prejudice” when they will be placed before him.

He also claimed that the legislation was brought and passed to divert the people’s attention after the Calcutta High Court found illegalities in the recruitment of teachers in schools sponsored and aided by the state government.

The TMC government’s move came after a series of run-ins between the governor and the CM, including over Dhankhar calling vice-chancellors for meetings, which the state administration did not approve of.

The governor said that he will consider these bills “without any rancour, anger, bias or prejudice” and in the perspective of the University Grants Commission Act after taking note of the Supreme Court decisions.

The concurrent list consists of subjects of common interest to both the Union and the states. Both the Parliament and the state legislatures can make laws on the subjects included in this list but in case of a conflict between the Union and the state on a law relating to the same subject, the Union law prevails. The list includes education.

Dhankhar said that opposition BJP MLAs who met him at the Raj Bhavan during the day had told him that the objective of the Trinamool Congress government is to create a new post that will make the same person chief minister and governor of West Bengal.

“This can’t happen. We are a society governed by law. Your governor is a servant of the Indian Constitution and the people of West Bengal,” he said.

The governor, who has shared an acrimonious relationship with the Trinamool Congress government since he assumed office in July 2019, claimed that the state government not adopting the Centre’s New Education Policy is “destroying the education and future of students of Bengal.”

(With inputs from PTI)

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