Kolkata, Sep 14 (PTI) Several interim vice-chancellors of state universities, who were recently appointed by West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose, attended a meeting convened by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday.

The meeting was held at a hotel in the city, in the backdrop of a tussle between the Raj Bhavan and the TMC government in the state over the appointments of the officiating VCs.

Also Read | Madhya Pradesh: 13-Year-Old Boy Suffers Subdural Haemorrhage After Being Slapped by Teacher in Rewa, Gasping for Life at Nagpur Hospital.

The programme was part of a move to facilitate a discussion among the central minister, VCs and the authorities of universities to discuss academic issues, a BJP leader said.

"The meeting is nothing but an interaction with academicians and the stakeholders in the higher education system with an eye on its improvement," the BJP leader said.

Also Read | Nipah Virus Outbreak in Kerala: 15 Samples in High-Risk Category in Contact List Sent for Testing.

Those who attended the meeting included West Bengal University of Teachers' Training, Education Planning and Administration VC Soma Banerjee, Calcutta University interim VC Santa Dutta, North Bengal University's interim VC Rathin Banerjee and Vidyasagar University's interim VC Susanta Chakraborty.

Notably, it was held a week after another meeting of registrars of 31 universities, convened by the state higher education department, was organised.

Only 12 registrars attended the state government's meeting while 19 others could not come due to "threat from Raj Bhavan", state Education Minister Bratya Basu had told reporters.

The governor recently appointed interim VCs of at least eight universities which remained headless after the expiry of the terms of the permanent VCs in April and May.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)