Jadavpur University has submitted details of all resolutions passed by its Executive Council over the last three years to the West Bengal Higher Education Department, a senior university official said on Friday. According to the official, the documents were sent to the department three days ago following a request made by the state government last month.
As reported by PTI, the development has led to questions within sections of the university community over whether similar records have been sought from other state universities or whether Jadavpur University has been specifically asked to provide the information.
The Executive Council is the university’s key decision-making body and includes nominees of the Higher Education Department, the Chancellor-Governor and the state Finance Department. A member of the Executive Council noted that the resolutions are already accessible to these representatives.
Concerns Over University Autonomy
Some members of the Jadavpur University community have questioned the need for the administration to submit the resolutions to the state government, citing concerns about institutional autonomy.
However, the university official said there was nothing unusual about the government seeking such records. The official also said Executive Council resolutions should ideally be available in the public domain.
The issue of making Executive Council decisions public has been raised earlier as well. The West Bengal University Employees’ Association, affiliated with the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, had demanded that universities upload such resolutions on their websites.
The association said making the decisions publicly available would improve transparency and allow people to access information about administrative decisions.
Members of the left-backed Jadavpur University Teachers’ Association questioned whether the state government would properly preserve the records. Another section of the university community maintained that the government was within its rights to seek the information.
Bhaskar Sardar, secretary of the Jadavpur University unit of the Akhil Bharatiya Rashtriya Shaikshikh Mahasangh, said the documents could provide information on financial and administrative decisions, including appointments.
“These documents need to be properly examined and, if necessary, made public,” he said, stressing the need for transparency, accountability and adherence to a lawful process in administrative and financial decision-making.
(With inputs from PTI)