Vishwakarma Puja Holiday Row: Calcutta University Defies State Order

While the West Bengal government declared a holiday for Vishwakarma Puja on Wednesday, Calcutta University (CU) remained operational, highlighting the continuing friction between CU’s authorised vice-chancellor Santa Datta Dey and the Mamata Banerjee administration.

Unlike Presidency, Jadavpur, and Rabindra Bharati universities, which observed the state advisory and remained closed, CU’s College Street campus stayed open. Vice-Chancellor Datta Dey, the registrar, and other officials were present on campus, though student attendance was notably low. Only a few departments conducted classes, with some BTech sessions taking place at the Salt Lake campus.

A professor from the engineering and technology faculty, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, “The cancellation of the holiday was announced abruptly on Tuesday. Expecting a holiday, we hadn’t scheduled classes for September 17, and students were already informed. As a result, attendance was minimal.”

VC Datta Dey told reporters on Tuesday, “CU’s academic calendar does not list Vishwakarma Puja as a holiday. Jadavpur University observes it, likely because of its strong engineering faculty.”

A senior CU official noted that the university had followed the state advisory earlier in the year by declaring a holiday for Karam Puja on September 3. “But this time, the VC chose not to follow the government’s notice. The low student turnout indicates the move didn’t achieve its intended effect,” the official said.

Regarding the Vishwakarma Puja holiday, Datta Dey clarified, “Postgraduate counselling and some departmental classes proceeded as scheduled on Wednesday. The state government’s holiday notice was for government offices, and no official order was issued to the university registrar.”

She further explained that CU had not observed a Vishwakarma Puja holiday last year either. “JU declared a holiday on September 17 because it was included in their academic calendar. I am unsure why Presidency and RBU remained closed,” Datta Dey added. CU registrar Debasis Das declined to comment.

Amit Roy, secretary of the science and engineering faculty, confirmed that postgraduate counselling in subjects like Hindi and English went ahead but could not specify the number of classes held.

Datta Dey, appointed authorised VC by Governor C.V. Ananda Bose in June 2023, has previously clashed with the state government. Despite objections, she has held meetings of decision-making bodies, conducted the degree awarding ceremony in September 2024, and refused to defer undergraduate exams that coincided with the Trinamool Congress Chhatra Parishad foundation day.

A senior CU official said, “By not declaring a holiday for Vishwakarma Puja, she continues her defiant approach.”