The BJP government in West Bengal will introduce an amendment Bill in the Assembly during a one-day special session on Thursday, empowering it to transfer teaching and non-teaching staff from one state university to another – a move opposed by the various teachers’ associations and academics.The state Cabinet had on Monday cleared the proposal to introduce the amendment Bill in the Assembly.AdvertisementChief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, who had earlier described the Bill as important and necessary, on Wednesday said that its passage will be “historic”.Leading the Gerua Samman Yatra (Saffron Honour March) to the gates of Jadavpur University in Kolkata, Adhikari said, “Tomorrow, a historic Bill is going to be passed in the Assembly. I have told the Higher Education Minister and the Parliamentary Affairs Minister to give me 15 to 20 minutes to speak as well. I have taken an oath to uproot those who chant the ‘free Kashmir’ slogan and salute Maoist leader Kishenji from Jadavpur University, which is a centre of excellence.”Read | Suvendu Adhikari flags corruption in Hill administration: ‘Those who have looted will be sent to jail, none will be spared’The BJP government’s move comes amid the simmering tension at Jadavpur University, where ABVP, the students’ wing of the RSS, and the Left-backed SFI have intermittently clashed over ideological control of the campus in the recent weeks.What’s the new provisionAdvertisementAs per sources in the government, the West Bengal Universities and Colleges Administration and Regulation Amendment Bill, 2026, has one additional provision in Section 14A of the existing Act, which will allow inter-university transfer of both teaching and non-teaching employees as and when required.However, the seniority of the service of the employee will remain the same, and the state government will bear the transfer expenditure, sources in the government said.“In the existing law, we have a provision to transfer teaching and non-teaching staff members from one college to another college within a state university even when the governing body of the college is the appointing authority. In the same way, this will now happen from one university to another university following the passage of the amendment Bill,” said a senior official of the state administration.CM says Bill necessary, teachers’ outfits objectThe state Cabinet had on Monday cleared the proposal to introduce the amendment Bill in the Assembly. Justifying the decision, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Monday said, “This Bill is important. There is a ground reality that necessitates it… Several experienced professors will go to the new universities. They will guide these universities on what the infrastructure should be like, how classes can be conducted and how they can be turned into centres of excellence.”“The experienced teachers will be transferred to new universities established in places like Jhargram and Cooch Behar and will ensure the exchange of human resources,” he said.However, Left-leaning Jadavpur University Teachers Association (JUTA) slammed the government’s move, calling it an attack on the self-reliance of the institutions. “It’s a direct attack on the self-reliance of the universities, and the job security of the employees. “The way the government is trying to centralise the whole system will weaken the autonomy of universities, which is against the basic tenets of the University Grants Commission,” the JUTA said in a statement, adding that every university has its own rules and operational procedures, and appointments to respective universities are based on them.“It is against natural justice to force employees to work under a completely new set of conditions,” the JUTA said.Maintaining that the role of the teaching faculty is very important for the excellence of a higher education facility, the teachers’ outfit asserted that such a transfer model does not exist in any state or at the Central level.The president of Calcutta University Teachers Association (CUTA), Sanatan Chattopadhyay, urged the government to hold detailed consultations with the stakeholders before introducing the Bill.