Spooked profs cite Presidency precedent: 'What if...?'
Times of India | 11 September 2026“Starting from Congress to Left regime till today, there is a scheme of transfer of teachers under West Bengal Education Service. They can be transferred to any govt colleges or education directorate. Outstanding teachers of various govt colleges used to opt for university service in open post to avoid transfer. They dedicate their entire time to create exceptional labs and a real centre of excellence at the university. If the university teachers are also transferred now, then they will not dedicate their time and resources to create labs and research,” said a senior academician.
He added, “Different colleges that have attained a certain level of excellence have been upgraded to universities such as Sanskrit University, Presidency University and Raiganj University so that the outstanding teachers could dedicate their human resource and time creating vertical centres of excellence. This bill is a major contradiction to the mandate of NEP and the Niti Aayog and also the vision of Viksit Bharat.”
JUTA assistant general secretary Arindam Sil said, “This is a direct assault on university autonomy and job security. This will plunge research activities into profound uncertainty. Equipment procured for research projects remains under the university’s jurisdiction, and research scholars are registered with the university. A professor plays a pivotal role in both managing research projects and supervising scholars—activities that will be thrown into disarray in their absence. No such model exists in central or state government institutions in India, nor in recognized higher education systems abroad. The teaching community, as a vital human resource, plays a paramount role in the excellence of any higher education institution. Above all, is there a guarantee that this law will not be weaponised against critics of government policies?”
Calcutta University Teachers’ Association (CUTA) president Sanatan Chattopadhyay said, “Calcutta University presently has only 42% of its total sanctioned faculty strength. So, is it possible to support other universities when all our departments are struggling with an extreme shortage of teaching staff?”
Another senior professor highlighted that this move would promote privatisation, as state universities will lose their stability by transferring teachers from one university to another. “Research scholars would face immense hardship because if their guide is transferred to another university, what will the fellow do? And what about the research lab under each professor? The risk of punishment transfers would likely be there, which is not a good sign for the higher education system in Bengal.”
Tarun Kanti Naskar, a retired JU professor and a member of the state secretariat of SUCI (Communist), said, “In the Left-Front regime, they used to transfer many stalwart teachers from govt colleges like Presidency, who allegedly did not support them, to rural govt colleges in Coochbehar, Darjeeling. It happened in the Trinamool era too. But such transfers do not apply to university professors. Transferring teachers who are supervising research will disrupt these activities. Furthermore, the UGC approves university teaching posts, and it does so for that specific university. They even specify the exact specialization and qualifications required for the teacher. If such a teacher is transferred to another university, neither of the two universities involved will be benefitted. What if the bill is used to target professors with opposing views?”
Rabindra Bharati University Teachers’ Association president Jyotsna Chattopadhyay said, This is not acceptable at all. This Bill will lead to the destruction of the academic character of higher educational institutions of this state. We’ll fight against this assault on higher education collectively.”
ABUTA general secretary Goutam Maity said, “Centralizing the authority to transfer and appoint serving teachers to other universities, bypassing the individual statutory recruitment systems of separate universities, will undermine university autonomy and academic freedom. An inevitable question arises as to whether fundamental changes can be made post-appointment to the terms and conditions under which a teacher or staff member originally joined the service.”
BOX
> Overriding university-specific statutes compromises university autonomy and job security, violating
> The proposed changes risk conflicting with existing legal frameworks
> Displacing professors threatens the continuity of ongoing research projects, and scholar supervision.
> Centralizing the education system goes directly against the fundamental principles of the UGC
> There are apprehensions that the law could be used to penalize those who are critical of govt policies
> No comparable model exists in recognized higher education systems in India or abroad.
> Destabilizes public education to make way for privatization.
