– Mita Mukherjee

Teachers of Bengal’s state-aided universities have written a letter to state governor R.N. Ravi seeking his intervention against the Inter- University Teacher Transfer Bill that allows transfer of teaching and non-teaching staff from one university to another.

The West Bengal Universities and Colleges (Administration and Regulation) Bill, 2026 passed in the state Assembly last week has been sent to the governor who is also the chancellor of all state universities, for his consent.

In a joint statement, the teachers’ platform wrote to the governor in an email that universities “cannot be treated as an administrative branch office to which academic staff may be reassigned at will.”

“A university cannot be treated as an administrative branch office to which academic staff may be reassigned at will. Every university develops its own intellectual traditions, discipline-specific expertise, academic programmes and institutional relationships over time. These constitute the foundations of its academic identity,” the teachers said in the statement.

Expressing deep concern over the implications of inter-university transfers, members of the All Bengal University Teachers’ Association (ABUTA) and the West Bengal College and
University Teachers’ Association (WBCUTA) said that a teacher does not merely teach students but also mentors them within the culture of an institution, shaped by the university’s history, resources and the character of the particular department.

Therefore, the teachers said, “Treating faculty members as fungible administrative units, movable between institutions ‘notwithstanding’ the specific conditions under which they were appointed, misunderstands what a university is and how academic work is actually produced.”

The provisions of the Bill needs to be reconsidered also because they can affect imparting of quality education at the universities, the teachers said in the letter.

“The university departments design their syllabi around the specific expertise of their existing faculty. Moving teachers between universities disrupts curricula at both the sending and the receiving institution and may erode the standard of teaching built up over years of localised academic practice.”

The platform also pointed out the impact of transfers on research projects. They said external funding for research is granted not merely to an individual investigator but to a research team working within a specific laboratory, library and institutional infrastructure.

So, “Removing a Principal Investigator or key team member mid-project would jeopardise ongoing and future grants. Years of institutional development, including laboratories, equipment, libraries, and research facilities established through such grants, could be placed at risk.”

The teachers urged the governor to examine the Bill as the power to transfer teacher to be enjoyed by the government could be used to “intimidate or penalise teachers who express critical or independent views” which would have serious implications for academic freedom and institutional integrity.

The teachers have also sought the chancellor’s appointment.

Goutam Maity, ABUTA general secretary said inter-university transfer of teachers does not exist anywhere in India and the teachers will continue to oppose the provisions of the Bill till they are withdrawn
“Inter- institution transfer of teachers of colleges exist in many states. But university teachers are not transferred in this way in any other state. We will start a movement demanding withdrawal of the provisions and our movement will continue till our demand is met,” Maity told EducationWorld.

Also read: Bengal Passes Bill Allowing Inter-University Teacher Transfers