KOLKATA: The State cabinet on Thursday decided to appoint West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee as the Chancellor of all state government universities in the state replacing the governor. Education minister Bratya Basu placed the proposal that the state cabinet approved. The new approval will be brought to the state Assembly and will subsequently be amended as an act.

"It was decided to replace West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar by chief minister Mamata Banerjee as the Chancellor of state universities. We will amend the act in the Assembly,’’ said Basu at the state secretariat.

Sources in the government said a bill would be first passed in the Assembly to change the Chancellor of the state universities. ‘’Once the bill is passed, it will be sent to the governor’s office for his approval to amend the change as an act. If there is no nod from the governor, an ordinance will be promulgated to amend the change replacing the governor to the key post,’’ said a cabinet member.

The change was first proposed by Punchi Commission in 2010. Last year, a row between Dhankhar and Bengal CM broke out after suggestions were made that the governor should be replaced from the titular post of Chancellor of state-run universities in West Bengal. There were allegations that the West Bengal government was making appointments of vice-chancellors on its own, ignoring the Chancellor (governor).

In Tamil Nadu, following a tussle between the governor and MK Stalin-led DMK government, Tamil Nadu University Laws (Amendment) Act, 2022, and Chennai University Act, 1923 (Chennai University Amendment Act, 2022) were passed. Last month, Stalin said this is not a rare phenomenon and the Gujarat government too holds the power to appoint vice-chancellors in state-run universities.