By Sujay Ghosh: West Bengal Governor CV Anand Bose, who was on a surprise visit to Presidency University on Thursday, faced protests by members of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI). The protesters were demanding the withdrawal of the National Education Policy, 2020, and seeking elections to the students’ council.

As Bose entered Presidency University at around noon, a rally by members of the SFI against NEP 2020 was going around the campus. He stopped for a while as the students continued their protest but no untoward incident took place, a university official said.

Presidency University SFI president Anandarupa Dhar said, “We had staged a protest when the governor entered and made known our opposition to NEP 2020. We had then demanded that he grant us an audience and the governor agreed.”

Later on, after meeting teachers and the Vice-Chancellor, the Governor met the students as stakeholders of the institution. “We handed over our memorandum to him listing our demands about non-implementation of NEP 2020 and issues related to the universityâ€æ ,” added SFI President Anandarupa Dhar.

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The Governor visited the university to ensure if there was any problem with the implementation of the National Education Policy in the university, according to sources. He spoke to university students and faculty members, including Vice-Chancellor Anuradha Lohia.

During his meeting with Vice-Chancellor Lohia, the two discussed infrastructure facilities at the university, upcoming projects, the academic atmosphere and its financial condition.

CV Anand Bose reportedly promised the students that he would meet them later and listen to their views.

Earlier on April 10, CV Anand Bose visited Calcutta University, where he was welcomed with “Go back” slogans. The members of the student council marched, condemning the National Education Policy. He also visited the West Bengal State University campus at Barasat on Wednesday.

During his visit, he spoke about several important issues, including various activities carried out in the universities. The governor is also the Chancellor of all state-run universities.

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Asked about the Governor’s surprise visits to universities, state Education Minister Bratya Basu told reporters: “The state will take the call on NEP and other policy decisions with regard to the running of the institutions.”

“The honourable governor has nothing to do on the issue. The state will discuss with him as and when required. But, I don’t have any clue about his current visits, which are personal,” added Bratya Basu.

(With inputs from PTI)