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Shibpur teachers on strike, demand varsity upgrade

By Dr arvind, Section News
Posted on Wed Feb 14, 2007 at 12:24:01 AM EST

Teachers of the Bengal Engineering and Science University (BESU), Shibpur have decided to intensify their protests against the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) and the West Bengal Higher Education Department's failure to act on their demand to upgrade the varsity to Indian Institute of Technology/ Institute of National Importance (IIT/INI) status.

All the members of the Bengal Engineering and Science University Teachers' Association (BESUTA) and varsity teachers observed a holiday today and demonstrated in the varsity premises to make their demands heard. Students suffered but the teachers assured them that they would make up by taking extra classes to finish the syllabus on time.

Professor Sujay Kumar Mukherjee, secretary of BESUTA, said: "According to the Anandakrishnan Committee Report, BESU has been recognised as the most apt engineering and science institute for upgradation but since November neither the MHRD nor the state Higher Education Department is keen to pursue the matter... We are demanding that the authorities should ensure that this varsity be upgraded to IIT/INI status immediately because there is a need for high-end institutes to contribute to the development of the state."

Mukherjee says some BESUTA members met state Higher Education Minister Sudarshan Raychaudhuri last month but were told that though the idea was welcome, the pace of upgradation has slackened due to riders relating to governance and admission procedure.

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"The report recommended that after upgradation the varsity should have governance like that of the IITs and the admission should be done on an all-India basis. But the authorities want admission through WBJEE because according to them it has an all-India character. We demand that if there are stumbling blocks they should be discussed and sorted out," Mukherjee says.

The Anandakrishnan Committee visited BESU in December 2005 and submitted a report to the MHRD in February 2006 saying BESU was fit to be upgraded. In October 2006 BESU and the state Higher Education Department sent proposals to the MHRD. But from November 2006 matters have ground to a halt.

Bhaswati Mitra, registrar-in-charge of BESU, says: "All the proposals from the varsity and the state government have been sent to the MHRD and we are awaiting their reply. In order that a state-aided university be upgraded to IIT/INI status, a lot of time is involved to weigh the pros and cons. The teachers are observing a mass-casual leave but we are sure that very soon we will get an intimation from the MHRD."

Raychaudhuri says: "The MHRD was supposed to sit for a Parliament session over this but we have not heard from them recently. We had suggested that the governance should be like that of the Indian Statistical Institute and the admission examination should be a common one instead of like the IITs. These were suggestions but if they are against it then they should discuss with us. On our side their is no perceptible stumbling block to upgradation."

From: The Indian Express, FEB-14,2007

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