Cachar College episode: Ananda Ghosh denies allegations made against him by the Principal

Oct. 9: Dr. Siddhartha Shankar Nath, Principal of Cachar College on Wednesday spoke to the media against the activities of a teacher of his college. Dr. Nath categorically stated that Ananda Chandra Ghosh, Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science has been involved in various anti-institutional activities. The Principal alleged that Ananda Chandra Ghosh went to the extent of misbehaving even with a member of the Governing Body of the College for which the non-teaching staff of Cachar College went for pen-down since last Monday.

Reacting to the views of the Principal published in way2barak, Mr. Ananda Chandra Ghosh termed the allegations made by the Principal “as not only false, but also imaginary.” He further said, “If I would have been anti-institutional, then why did the teachers elect me thrice as member of the Governing Body, Secretary of Teachers’ Council twice, Secretary of ACTA Cachar College Unit, Programme officer of NSS, Member of remuneration rationalization committee, member secretary of rule book amendment committee , Member Secretary of Physical Audit, AOC and AZO for several times and many other such cells and committees. Was it not necessary for the Principal to go through the available records in the office of the College before blaming someone as anti-institutional before the media?

In this connection, Mr. Ghosh alleged that, “Since his joining, the present Principal has been harassing him and others off and on. I was constantly opposing his various irregularities inside the campus. He even went to the extent of compelling me not to stand for election for the post of Teachers’ Representative to the Governing Body (GB) of the college. Inspite of that, I contested and became the TR to GB. During a GB Meeting, I opposed the move of the Principal who allowed a payment to a contractor for the western boundary wall of the college. I opposed because it was constructed without any tender notice and work order. This infuriated him much. On 23rd June, 2020 there was a meeting of the Governing Body, which I was unable to attend. Surprisingly, on 30 June, the Principal sent a letter to my home wherein it was stated that I was suspended from the GB and other Committees/ Cells of the College until further order. The letter not only shocked me but also made me ill.”

Earlier, while interacting with the media, Dr. Siddhartha Shankar Nath said that “Things have crossed all limits in Cachar College. The non-teaching staff of the college have gone for pen-down since last Monday. In a written letter to the Principal, the non-teaching staff of the college alleged that Ananda Chandra Ghosh blatantly insulted Simanta Bhattacharjee, Member of the Governing Body of the College in front of them. I have also checked the same in the CCTV recording. We really felt very insulted. For this one man, the entire non-teaching fraternity of the college has resorted to pen-down.”

Reacting to the allegation, Mr. Ghosh said, “The drama of pen-down is nothing but a handiwork of the Principal just to humiliate and malign my image in the society and to hush up his irregular activities.” He stated that, “On  last Saturday, when I entered inside the room adjacent to that of the Principal to record my attendance, I found Simanta Bhattacharee sitting there with Dr. Chandan Dey, retired HOD of Commerce and Sri Ratan Kumar Das present HOD of Commerce.  There was exchange of words between us and the matter ended there. Dr. Dey and Prof. Das were eye witnesses of my conversation with Mr. Bhattacharjee.”

Mr Ghosh went further and alleged that “Simanta Bhattacharee is not a member of the GB, but once, one of the donor member nominated him to attend a meeting of GB. Since then, he is attending the GB meetings on behalf of the donor members. So on last Saturday, when I met Mr. Bhattacharjee in the college, I just asked him how by violating management rule and without seeking my opinion, I have been suspended from the GB.”

Meanwhile, on Thursday, a meeting of the Governing Body was convened, where this issue was discussed at length. As per sources, the meeting decided to take severe action against Ananda Chandra Ghosh. It was resolved that the Governing Body would immediately move a proposal to the Director of Higher Education (DHE), Assam to either terminate Mr.Ghosh or to transfer him. It was learnt that majority of the members present in the meeting voiced strong action against him. Further, the source also revealed that the GB decided to lodge an FIR against Mr. Ananda Chandra Ghosh.

On the other hand, after much persuasion by the members of the Governing Body, the non-teaching staff of Cachar College agreed to give up their pen-down conditionally. They expressed the view that if no action is initiated by the DHE against Mr. Ghosh, then they will go for more vigorous agitation.

Also Read: Anti-institutional activities of Ananda Ghosh has crossed all limits, alleges Principal Cachar College