North Bengal University: VC term extended by 3 months

Siliguri, Dec. 19: The state higher education department has extended the tenure of North Bengal University vice-chancellor Arunabha Basumajumdar by three months with effect from January 1.

The incumbent’s term has been extended amidst an agitation by the employees’ union against the VC. The staff have been preventing him from attending office for the past six weeks to protest against alleged administrative and financial irregularities during his tenure.

Basumajumdar who had assumed charge on January 1, 2008, was supposed to retire on December 31 this year.

According to NBU sources, Basumajumdar received a letter dated December 16 by fax this afternoon. The letter was sent by the chancellor’s secretariat.

“Honourable Chancellor is pleased to extend the tenure of the office of Professor Arunabha Basumajumdar, vice-chancellor of University of North Bengal, for a period of three months with effect from 1/1/2012,” reads the letter.

Basumajumdar said his office had informed him about the extension of the tenure. “I have not been attending office since November 9 because of the agitation by the employees. So, my office staff informed me about the letter today. On my part, I had not applied for an extension”.

Although no reason has been stipulated in the letter for the extension, sources said it might be because a search committee had not yet been formed to select a successor to Basumajumdar.

An ordinance promulgated for the NBU on November 4 stipulates that the VC has to be chosen by a three-member search committee. Statutory bodies like varsity court and executive council, too, were dissolved according to the new ordinance.

“The committee will be composed of the nominees of the chancellor, chairman of the University Grants Commission and the varsity court. The chancellor’s nominee will be the chairman of the panel. The court can recommend the nominee only after its formation. The state government may have given three months’ extension to Basumajumdar with the hope that the search committee could be formed during this period,” said an official.

When told that the VC’s tenure had been extended, D.P. Boot, the secretary of the NBU Employees’ Association, said: “We are holding a meeting of the association tomorrow to decide on our future course of action.”

Source: The Telegraph