The state government has nominated a 10-member committee to finalise the Acts,statutes rules and regulation of Presidency University. Fingers,however,are being raised about the committee,which largely comprises academicians close to the ruling coalition. The upgrade of Presidency College was meant to make it a centre for academic excellence,like a Central university. But the committee members are all from state and close to the party and the establishment. I do not find anything new,they have appointed people at the Presidency University as they have appointed members in all other universities, said Amal Mukherjee,former Principal of Presidency College. The government has followed a quota system ¿ what they always do where there are representatives from various parties (CPI and CPM) and appointed these people. Along with the ten persons (see box) who will frame the rules of the university,the government will also nominate about a dozen of members in the University council,which will look into the day to day affairs of the university. Official sources say party favourites will get these posts too. The committee members who have not received the official letter from the state,say there was no need to have anyone from outside the state to frame its Acts or rules. The procedure will take a series of meetings and the Act,rules and the statutes of the entire functioning of the university will be drafted, said Siddhartha Datta,the Pro Vice-Chancellor of JU. Datta said he has been involved with the functioning of Jadavpur University since its inception and the other members,too,have considerable experience. The students,meanwhile,say it is a party rule and has been evident from the names of the committee. We are watching the situation,the Left Front government has placed their own people in the committee. In case they try to infringe on the rights of students,they will have to face student protests, said Amalan Hazra,a student at Presidency University. Some of the members of the committee: *Siddhartha Datta: Pro Vice-Chancellor of Jadavpur University *Saroshimohan Dawn: Pro Vice-Chancellor of Burdwan University *Ranajit Basu: Chairman of School Service Commission *Sanjib Ghosh: Former Principal Presidency College *Basab Chaudhuri: Registrar of University of Calcutta *Dipak Bhattacharya: West Bengal Council of Higher Education *Anand Deb Mukherjee: former Vice-Chancellor,Vidyasagar Univ *Sourangshu Roy: Former confidential assistant to Higher Education minister *Pratip Chowdhury: Former Director of Public Instruction *Kamlesh Bhowmick: Former registrar,West Bengal State University
