The gherao of Union Minister Babul Supriyo by students of Jadhavpur University could cast a shadow on the Central funding to the Varsity which was just a few days ago conferred with the Institute of Eminence (IoE) status. Under the IoE status, the JU is to get additional funds for upgradation.

HRD Ministry sources said that they have sought a detailed report on the current situation on the JU premises. The Centre has earmarked a maximum of Rs 1000 crore to be given to each of the Varsity for upgradation following the Institute of Eminence tag to them.

West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankar, also Chancellor of the Jadavpur University, has taken serious note of the fact that Vice Chancellor Suranjan Das left the campus in the evening even as the Union Minister of State for Forest, Environment and Climate Change remained gheraoed by the students.

A HRD Ministry official, however, said that granting of eminence status to Jadavpur University in West Bengal was not initiated due to a procedural issue and this was already brought in notice to the state government. “The incident has not made us rethink on the coveted tag and the future course of action will be decided after we receive the report sought from the university regarding the unfortunate incident,” said the HRD Ministry official.

Along with the JU, the HRD Ministry is also reconsidering conferring of the prestigious ‘Institution of Eminence’ tag on Anna Universities over procedural issues. Both the universities got the IoE status last month along with those like Delhi University, IIT Madras, BHU, IIT Kharagpur in the public sector while Vellore Institute of Technology, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham (Bengaluru), and Shiv Nadar University (Greater Noida) in the private sector.

UGC had recommended the prestigious tag to these universities subject to condition that they would be considered only after the respective state governments agree to share up to 50 percent of the maximum of the Rs 1000 crore each that they will be given over the next five years.

The Jadavpur incident happened  at a time when West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was in Delhi and had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. Both sides showed cordiality, the first time after the acrimonious Lok Sabha campaign. And yet again the Governor and State Government are at loggerheads in West Bengal.