New Visva-Bharati VC Asks Govt for Clarification on Authority, Jurisdiction, and Work Limitations

Sanjoy Kumar Mallik, the acting vice-chancellor of Visva-Bharati, took up his position on Thursday and said that the university has sent a letter to the ministry of education on his authority, jurisdiction, and work limitations.

"Unlike a permanent vice-chancellor, I am an interim vice-chancellor with limited duties, responsibilities, and authority to take action. We have requested a thorough explanation of these matters, as the two-line letter we received from the government is unclear," Mallik stated on Thursday afternoon during a press conference in Santiniketan.

According to a source, Ashok Mahato, the acting registrar of the central varsity, wrote a letter to the government on Thursday asking for information on the "dos and don'ts" of the interim VC.

"I will shortly begin the process of selecting a new vice-chancellor, which is my highest responsibility. In order to steer the varsity in the proper path, he continued, "I want a permanent VC with full capacity to take charge as soon as possible."

Norms stated that when a vice-chancellor's term ended, the varsity had to call a meeting of its executive council and court to start the process.

People on and off campus are expecting Mallik to take action to atone for the alleged wrongdoings of his predecessor Bidyut Chakrabarty, including taking down the plaques that were recently installed to mark Unesco's heritage tag for Santiniketan without Rabindranath Tagore's name. Mallik's move to seek clarification from the ministry is significant at this time.

"Mallik attended the university and thereafter worked as a lecturer at Kala-Bhavana. A prominent varsity professor stated, "We hope he would do all in his power to correct the plaque as soon as possible in order to restore the ecology of Santiniketan.

Mallik declared he would not break away from the Santiniketan community, even if he was unsure if he could remove the contentious plaques.

Tell me what I can and cannot do first. I may then proceed," he continued.

End of TMC protest

Trinamul called for the replacement of the contentious plaques with new ones bearing Tagore's name, and on Thursday it called off its protest that had started on October 27.

According to a Trinamul leader, they dropped their protest in response to the Santiniketan Trust members' plea for more time to address the matter before the new acting vice-chancellor took office.

Police call for Bidyut

Former vice-chancellor Bidyut Chakrabarty was called by the Santiniketan police station on Thursday due to six criminal complaints that had been filed against him during the previous three years.