Mamata Banerjee pens to PM Modi to direct Education Ministry to withdraw memorandum

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging him to direct the Ministry of Education to withdraw its revised guidelines regarding conducting global conferences in universities.

The chief minister of West Bengal was unhappy with the guidelines issued by the Education Ministry which stipulated state-aided universities to get prior consent from the ministry for holding global conferences.

Publicly-funded universities will have to get the prior consent of the ministry if they want to hold online global conferences on issues pertaining to the security of the country or matters directly "related to India's internal matters", the ministry said on January 15.

Speaking out against the memorandum, Mamata Banerjee said that the revised guidelines have put several restrictions in respect



of holding online/virtual international conferences/seminars/training even for state-aided universities.

While talking about the unjust nature of the guidelines put forward by the Education Ministry, the chief minister also alleged that state governments were not consulted before the issuance of the memorandum containing the new guidelines.

In the letter to PM Modi, Banerjee wrote, "Our universities must enjoy the highest possible degree of self-governance and freedom. Knowledge is neither created by nor belongs to any single country and community.”

She further wrote, “Reasonable regulations and restrictions are understandable. However, the restrictions imposed by the office memorandum under reference further highlights the intention of the government of India towards centralisation of the higher education system in our country.”