Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday announced that Jadhavpur University Vice Chancellor Abhijit Chakrabarti has expressed his desire to resign from his post. Mamata said this after meeting the agitating students of the Jadavpur University.
Earlier, sources had said the vice chancellor had told Education Minister Partha Chatterjee that he was ready to resign.
Chatterjee had met a section of the protesting students a on Friday as an emissary of the CM and said he had apprised the Chief Minister of the situation. He said they were reaching towards a solution though it was not clear what shape it would take.
Chatterjee had a lengthy discussion with 12 students who are on an indefinite hunger strike clamouring for Chakrabarti's removal since September 17 when the university authorities ordered a police crackdown on a sit-in by students who were demanding an independent investigation into the alleged molestation of a female student inside a hostel.
The incident triggered protest rallies in the city and had a ripple effect across the country, with college alumni organising protest marches in Delhi and Mumbai.
Many students also boycotted the 59th annual convocation of the university in December.
The agitation brought together the Kolkata diaspora and university alumni in solidarity through social networking websites.
Amid the clamour for his removal, Chakrabarti, who was the interim vice chancellor, was given full-time responsibility by Governor Tripathi, who is the ex-officio chancellor.
The state government later instituted a five-member probe panel headed by University of Calcutta Vice Chancellor Suranjan Das to look into the prima facie evidence of the alleged molestation.
Two university students and an alumnus were arrested and subsequently released on bail.
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