Kolkata, 16 September (H.S.): The West Bengal government has released a fresh list appointing presidents of the governing bodies of 171 government colleges across the state, with several prominent BJP leaders being given responsibility for overseeing the institutions.

The appointments have brought renewed attention to the role of political leaders in college administration, particularly in the context of the government's stated objective of keeping higher education institutions free from political influence.

The Higher Education Department issued the notification on Tuesday under the provisions of the West Bengal University and College Laws, 2017. The list covers 171 colleges across several districts, including Kolkata, Howrah, Hooghly, North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Burdwan, Bankura, Birbhum, Murshidabad and Darjeeling.

According to the latest list, BJP leader Tamoghna Ghosh has been appointed president of the governing body of Surendranath College. Sayantan Basu has been given responsibility for Bhangar Mahavidyalaya, while Bimalshankar Nanda has been appointed president of Charuchandra College. BJP leader Shishir Bajoria has been named president of the governing body of Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose College.

Similarly, Meena Devi Purohit has been appointed president of Savitri Girls College, Anjana Basu has been given responsibility for Bengal Music College, and BJP leader Locket Chatterjee has been appointed president of the governing body of Sammilani Mahavidyalaya.

The latest appointments come nearly a month after the state government released a list of presidents for the governing bodies of 247 colleges in August. That list also included several BJP ministers, MPs and MLAs, with elected representatives associated with the ruling party being given responsibilities in colleges across different districts.

In Kolkata, BJP leader Priyanka Tibrewal had been appointed president of the governing body of Surendranath College for Women. She had contested the 2026 Assembly election as the BJP candidate from the Entally constituency. Swapan Dasgupta was appointed for Asutosh College, Shishir Bajoria for Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose College, Shashi Agnihotri Hera for Basanti Devi College and Rajkamal Pathak for Heramba Chandra College.

The August list had also named former BJP MP Locket Chatterjee as president of the governing body of Sammilani Mahavidyalaya in South 24 Parganas. Ajay Agnihotri was appointed president of the governing body of Yogesh Chandra Chaudhury Law College.

The issue of political appointments to college governing bodies had also been a subject of discussion during the previous Trinamool Congress government. During that period, MPs, MLAs, ministers and councillors associated with the ruling party were appointed as presidents of governing bodies of various colleges. Former minister Shashi Panja had served as president of the governing bodies of five colleges.

With the latest notification, the practice of appointing leaders and elected representatives associated with the ruling party to governing bodies of government colleges has continued under the BJP government as well. The August list covering 247 colleges and the latest list covering 171 colleges together represent appointments across hundreds of government colleges in the state.

Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh