Kolkata, Sep 20 (PTI) A group of distinguished academics from the state and other parts of the country have expressed concern over the West Bengal Universities and Colleges (Administration and Regulation) (Amendment) Bill, 2026, saying its provision allowing transfer of teachers between universities could adversely affect teaching, research and institutional autonomy.
The Bill was passed by the West Bengal Assembly on September 10.
In a representation addressed to the Governor and Chancellor of Universities R N Ravi, the academics argued that every university is a distinct institution with its own academic structure, programmes and requirements, and that transferring faculty from one university to another could disturb the academic balance of both institutions.
A copy of the letter was made available to PTI on Sunday.
They said “courses and research programmes” are planned around specific faculty members and their areas of expertise, while universities develop laboratories and libraries to support specialised fields.
“To move staff from one institution to another would impair the structural balance of both institutions and hamper their teaching and research programmes,” the academics said.
They further pointed out that research scholars could be particularly affected if faculty members supervising specialised areas were transferred, leaving students without adequate academic support and potentially resulting in under-utilisation of existing laboratory and library resources.
The academics also raised concerns over research funding, saying major projects are often linked to the presence of expert faculty members serving as principal investigators.
They said interdisciplinary and multi-institutional research projects could be “especially jeopardised” by faculty transfers, while the presence of senior faculty in specialised fields helped create sustained centres of research excellence.
The representation also highlighted the shortage of faculty and resources in several older state universities, with the academics claiming that hundreds of posts remain vacant.
“This is a particularly bad moment to deplete them of their remaining faculty,” they said.
The academics also argued that the development of newer universities should be undertaken through planned recruitment and adequate funding rather than sporadic transfers of teachers from established institutions.
According to them, several newer universities are still facing shortages of staff, infrastructure and other facilities, with some allegedly having no full-time teachers.
The academics also raised what they termed a “more fundamental issue” of academic autonomy.
They argued that the proposed transfer mechanism could bring universities under greater centralised administrative control and restrict their ability to develop independently according to their individual academic strengths and requirements.
“Academic productivity would suffer seriously if university faculty felt they could no longer control their own affairs,” they said.
The representation urged the authorities to consider the academic and institutional implications of the proposed changes before implementing the provisions of the amended legislation.
According to them, several newer universities are still facing shortages of staff, infrastructure and other facilities, with some allegedly having no full-time teachers.
They said bringing in a small number of teachers on transfer without strengthening the institutions’ overall infrastructure and staffing could leave them unable to function effectively.
The letter was written among others by Professor Emeritus of Jadavpur University Amita Chatterjee, former Palit Professor of Physics, Calcutta University Amitava Raychaudhuri, former IIM Calcutta Economics Professor Anup Sinha, Jadavpur University Raja Ramanna Professor Anupam Basu, former Rabindra Bharati University VC Sabya Sachi Basu Ray Choudhury, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research former Director Sabya Sachu Bhattacharya, former Director of Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, among others. PTI SUS RG
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