KOLKATA, Nov 28: A section of students, faculty members and staffers of the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) Kolkata held a demonstration near its campus on Friday to protest against a draft bill to change the institute’s status from an “autonomous society to a statutory body” under the central government.
Around 1,000 protesters formed a human chain and held a public meeting at the Dunlop More, close to the B T Road campus in north Kolkata, the protesters said.
“Students, researchers, faculty members, and non-teaching staff participated in the protest, and we also raised the issue with members of the public who supported our move,” one of the protesting researchers Udvas told PTI.
The protesters believe any move to change the status of the institute would “rob its autonomy and change its character by making it a fully centralised entity”.
The draft bill’s emphasis on making the institute financially self-sustaining could threaten the bachelor’s degree programmes, which are crucial for students from less privileged backgrounds, the protesters said.
The timeline for posting public comment (till November 3) about the tenet of the draft bill was “hasty and inadequate” for a matter of such significance, they claimed.
“Our protest is against the proposed repeal of the 1959 ISI Act, which established the institute as an autonomous body. This movement is not limited to Kolkata, but we are networking with other ISI centres across the country,” Kunal Ghosh, a faculty member, said.
The proposed bill introduces a new Board of Governance with strong central government influence, another faulty member alleged.
“It will give the Centre more say in appointing ISI’s director and even overriding academic decisions, seriously limiting ISI’s independence. We also heard of a move to shift the ISI headquarters from Kolkata to outside Bengal,” he said.
An ISI official, however, said there was no agenda to shift the headquarters from Kolkata as the Centre only wants to streamline its academic activities so that ISI can maintain the high academic excellence.
TMC MP Saugata Roy was present during the demonstration and expressed solidarity with protesters.
Some students held placards requesting him not to implement the National Education Policy in West Bengal.
Roy replied that it is not possible in some cases, and said the state was implementing its own education policy. (PTI)
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