On Friday, Bratya Basu, the Education Minister of West Bengal, expressed disappointment over the suspension of administrative activities at the state-run BR Ambedkar BEd University. He called for the acting vice-chancellor, Soma Bandyopadhyay, to resign due to the university’s operational challenges.

Bandyopadhyay had been absent from office since Thursday, attributing her absence to issues arising from the university’s decision not to recognize 253 private BEd colleges in the state for non-compliance with AICTE guidelines.

The vice-chancellor informed reporters that she had notified the higher education department about the situation via email. In response, Minister Basu suggested that rather than shutting down the institution, Bandyopadhyay should resign if facing difficulties, emphasizing the need to put an end to such arbitrary actions.

Basu pointed out that, given the vice-chancellor’s appointment by the governor, who serves as the ex-officio chancellor of state universities, she should have informed Governor CV Ananda Bose about her problems instead of resorting to closing down the university.

The minister added that the government would seek legal advice to address the unfolding situation.

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