Won't allow political interference in Presidency: Mamata

Kolkata: The West Bengal government on Tuesday assured the Presidency University that no political interference would be allowed in the premier institution and there would be an impartial probe into the vandalism there. "The chief minister (Mamata Banerjee) has assured me that no political interference will be allowed in the Presidency University," the varsity Mentor Group chairman Sugata Bose told reporters here after a meeting with the CM.

Presidency University had witnessed vandalism allegedly by Trinamool Congress workers on April 10, 2013 which had left many students injured and the ruling party and opposition trading charges against each other for it. "We (the mentor group) had demanded an impartial probe into the unfortunate incident (vandalism). The chief minister assured me that an impartial probe will be conducted into it," Bose, who is also a Harvard University professor, said. State Eduction Minister Bratya Bose was present in the meeting held at the state secretariat Writers' Buildings.

Bose said the chief minister had told him that so far 150 new faculty were appointed at the university and there was no political interference. The mentor group had also demanded stringent action against those responsible for vandalism at the historical Baker Laboratory of the University. The group comprising internationally renowned academicians was set up by Banerjee after she came to power and chartered to provide recommendations and a roadmap to establish Presidency University as a pre-eminent institution of learning of international repute.

Governor MK Narayanan, who is the chancellor of the university, had apologised for the incident and said it should never have happened. "It (the vandalism) is a blot on our hopes for the future and our ambitions to make this a centre of excellence," Narayanan, who had visited the university two days after the vandalism, had said. He had said those behind the incident should be treated like "criminals". West Bengal Human Rights Commission had asked Amol Mukhopadhyay, former principal of Presidency College, to conduct an independent inquiry and submit a report.

Trinamool Congress councillor Partha Bose and leader of the party's student wing Tamaghna Ghosh had surrendered on April 17, 2013 before a local court in connection with ransacking of Baker laboratory on April 10, a day after SFI activists heckled Banerjee and Finance Minister Amit Mitra in Delhi. Both were granted bail by the court.