Don’t extend Visva-Bharati V-C’s tenure: unions of traders, teachers tell PM

A view of Kala Bhawan near Visva Bharati University in Santiniketan. | Photo Credit: The Hindu

A teachers’ union critical of the Vice-Chancellor wrote to PM Modi and to the Education Minister, appealing them to not extend Visva-Bharati Vice-Chancellor Bidyut Chakrabarty’s tenure

Two letters have been written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Santiniketan - one from local traders and artisans and another from a teachers’ union - asking him not to extend Visva-Bharati Vice-Chancellor Bidyut Chakrabarty’s tenure, which ends early next month.

The university PRO said she did not want to comment on the matter.

“Ever since Professor Chakrabarty assumed the position of Vice-Chancellor in 2018, he has consistently made decisions that have significantly harmed the lives and livelihoods of the common people of Bolpur-Shantiniketan,” the traders and artisans wrote to the Prime Minister last weekend, under the banner ‘Voters of Bolpur-Santiniketan’.

“As you are aware, Visva-Bharati has become an international tourism centre, around which the lives and livelihoods of ordinary people are intertwined. Many individuals, both directly and indirectly, depend on Santiniketan for their sustenance and employment. However, in the post-Covid period, Prof. Chakrabarty, by halting the Poush Mela and Basanta Utsav, has harmed the people associated with tourism,” they said.

“You had emphasised on making Santiniketan a centre for self-reliance of the marginalised local population and had called for ‘Vocal for local’ and ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’. However, Professor Chakrabarty has taken actions contrary to this vision… We had hoped that the recognition by UNESCO [as a heritage site] would provide a new direction to the lives and livelihoods of ordinary people in Santiniketan, but after the UNESCO announcement, the V-C has been closing the roads in front of the heritage site and disrupting tourism and the livelihoods of both tourists and local e-rickshaw drivers,” they wrote to the PM.

By Tuesday morning, a teachers’ union highly vocal and critical of the Vice-Chancellor also wrote to the Prime Minister - who is the Chancellor of the university - and to the Education Minister, making a similar appeal.

“He has made the lives of the employees of Visva-Bharati, local residents and the business community miserable. The unlawful punitive measures adopted by him against the employees generated more than 150 legal litigations. In all the cases, the Calcutta High Court provided reliefs to the employees with adverse comments against the university administration,” the Visva-Bharati University Faculty Association (VBUFA) said in its letter.

“By halting Poush Mela and Basanta Utsav, Prof. Chakrabarty caused severe damage to the local economy. On several occasions, he has made abusive remarks towards the local residents and employees. By unnecessarily raising walls, he restrained the movement of the local residents, resulting in their hardship,” the VBUFA said, claiming that the university had witnessed a sharp decline under him, with the NIRF ranking steadily dropping from 31 (in 2018) to 97 (in 2023).