Kolkata, March 19: The prestigious Presidency College here today got the status of a university with the passing of a Bill in West Bengal Assembly.
However, opposition Congress and Trinamool Congress legislators urged Governor M K Narayanan not to give his assent to the Presidency University Bill, 2009, which, they alleged, had provision intended to make the institution “another stronghold of CPI-M”.
Legislators of Congress and Trinamool Congress were absent in the House when the Bill was discussed to protest against Chief Minister Budddhadeb Bhattacharjee’s “insulting remarks” against the opposition.
Speaking on the Bill, state Higher Education Minister Sudarshan Roy Chowdhury said academicians as well as the people were for granting university status to the 193-year-old institution with a rich heritage.
Referring to the absence of opposition members in the House, he said they could have given their opinion on the Bill by participating in the discussion.
–Agencies