Kolkata: Newly appointed West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose has taken over the chair of rector of the iconic Visva-Bharati University at Bolpur- Santiniketan in West Bengal’s Birbhum district.
A statement issued by the university authorities on Sunday announced Bose as the new rector of the university, as per norms.
In that chair, Bose succeeds the former state governor Jagdeep Dhankhar, who is currently the Vice- President of the country. Although La Ganesan acted as the interim and acting governor in the period between the exit of Dhankhar and entry of Bose, Ganesan did not take over the chair of Visva-Bharati University.
Unlike other central universities, where the President of India is the chancellor by virtue of the chair, in case of Visva-Bharati University the Prime Minister of India is the chancellor, while the President of India is the visitor. So, by that norm, the current President Droupadi Murmu is the visitor and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the chancellor of Visva-Bharati University.
As per the same norms, the governor of West Bengal is traditionally the rector of Visva-Bharati University, which was declared as a central university in May 1951 and an institution of national importance by an Act of Parliament.
Legendary Indian actor Balraj Sahani had been a teacher of English with this iconic university. Nobel laureate economist Amarya Sen served as the second vice- chancellor of the university from 1953 to 1954. The alumni list of the university includes former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, noted Indian sculptor and painter Ramkinkar Baij, Indian contemporary art historian, Raman Siva Kumar and iconic film director Satyajit Roy, among others.
–IANS