Overview
- Rashtrapati Bhavan has returned three 2022 assembly bills that proposed replacing the governor with the chief minister as chancellor of state-aided universities, according to the governor’s office.
- The measures were the West Bengal University Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2022, the Aliah University (Amendment) Bill, 2022, and the West Bengal University of Health Sciences (Amendment) Bill, 2022.
- Lok Bhavan said the President withheld assent, so there will be no change in chancellorships and Governor C V Ananda Bose continues as chancellor of government-aided and sponsored universities.
- The bills followed a prolonged standoff after then governor Jagdeep Dhankhar declined assent and alleged illegal appointment of 24 vice-chancellors, with education falling on the Constitution’s concurrent list.
- TMC leader Jay Prakash Majumdar said the issue could be revisited by a future government, while earlier the state had moved the Supreme Court over pending bills and a similar Punjab proposal was sent back in 2024.