Kolkata: West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar Saturday visited ailing Jadavpur University Vice-Chancellor Suranjan Das at a private hospital here, and said he will work together with the senior varsity official to create the “best suitable” environment for students.
Dhankar arrived at the hospital in the southern part of the city’s Dhakuria area around 10 am to meet Das and pro-VC PK Ghosh, who were admitted Thursday, following the incident of heckling of Union minister Babul Supriyo by a section of students at the varsity.
State Education Minister Partha Chatterjee also visited the two university officials at the hospital from where they were later discharged. “The VC is in good shape and willing to return home. Das also said that once he is back to work, he will have an interactive session with the students,” Dhankhar said.
“I’m glad to say that we are on the same page. We have to work together to create the best suitable environment to explore the character of students and contribute in nation building,” said.
Das and Ghosh had to be hospitalised Thursday evening after they complained of “headache, vertigo, palpitation and nausea.”
They were taken ill while Supriyo was being heckled and shown black flags by Left-leaning students at the university, where he had gone to attend a programme by Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP).
Dhankhar, who is also the chancellor of the university, however, had earlier taken serious note of the fact that Das left the campus Thursday evening, even as Supriyo remained gheraoed by the students.
The Governor pointed to “the issue of serious lapses by the University VC, including virtual abandonment of his obligations,” a statement issued by Raj Bhavan had said.
Dhankhar Saturday said, “I am very much concerned about their health. I would also like to reach out to the daughter of the VC and his wife, who is a professor at Calcutta University.”
Later, the education minister visited Das and Ghosh at the hospital. “I came to visit the VC and Pro-VC and they are recovering well. We discussed several issues and I informed them that the state government is standing by the university at this hour,” Chatterjee, also the TMC secretary general, told reporters.
He said, “We condemn the vandalism at the university Thursday.”
He was referring to the arson in the arts faculty department of the university in which computers and furniture were set on fire and windowpanes of a building were damaged by alleged ABVP workers Thursday night.
After being discharged from hospital, VC Suranjan Das said, “We hope such incidents will not take place in future.”
Supriyo was shown black flags and heckled by a section of students in the Jadavpur University. He who also stopped from leaving the campus, prompting Dhankhar to rush there. Supriyo finally left the campus along with the governor.