NEW DELHI: Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan hit out at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, alleging that years of "silence and decay" under her leadership had weakened the state's institutions and that she was rattled by the growing demand for their revival.
The remarks came after Banerjee criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his comments on Jadavpur University, saying they undermined a premier institution known for academic excellence.
In a post on X on Friday, Pradhan said Banerjee appeared "more disturbed by the call for revival than by the condition in which those institutions have been left under her government", after Prime Minister Modi spoke the need to restore the "dignity" of West Bengal's most respected institutions and return them to the academic excellence they once symbolised.
Citing findings of a UGC expert committee on Jadavpur University, constituted after the death of a first-year student, he said the panel had described the varsity's anti-ragging framework as "feeble and lacklustre" and flagged "serious administrative failures marked by indifference, negligence, and a troubling absence of accountability".
"The committee found that institutional safeguards had weakened, governance had become ineffective, and the system had failed to respond with the seriousness expected of a premier university," he said.
Pradhan added that the findings were "so severe" that the panel recommended a 10 per cent reduction in the university's capital and recurring grants for non-compliance with UGC regulations.
He further alleged that the Trinamool Congress government showed "little intent to address the deeper structural failures", claiming that "campuses have too often been viewed through the prism of political influence rather than academic responsibility".
"What has clearly unsettled Mamata Banerjee ji is not criticism, but the possibility that Bengal is beginning to recognise how deeply her politics has corroded institutions that once commanded respect far beyond the state," he said.
"The people of Bengal can see that the real threat to its institutions came from years of silence, decay and a politics that reduced pride to paralysis. What truly worries her is that Bengal is no longer willing to accept decline as destiny, and that the demand for renewal has now become stronger than the politics that tried to suppress it," Pradhan added.
At a rally in Howra on Friday, Banerjee said Modi has insulted Jadavpur University (JU) as well as higher educational institutions like Calcutta University (CU), Presidency University and St Xavier's University, which are known for their academic excellence and rich talent pool of students, researchers and academics in the country and abroad for years.
"Before speaking in such a way about JU, he must check the NIRF (National Institutional Ranking Framework) rankings of JU and CU currently and in past years. Such comments by the prime minister show his anti-Bengal, undemocratic mindset against free thinking," she said.
Modi launched a blistering attack on the TMC, alleging that the Mamata Banerjee-led party had destroyed the state's identity through corruption and infiltration and turned premier institutions like Jadavpur University into symbols of disorder and political intimidation.
The prime minister also referred to frequent unrest at Jadavpur University, saying the premier institution, once respected globally for its academic legacy, had become a symbol of anarchy under the present dispensation.
"Jadavpur University was once spoken of with great respect. Its foundation was built on strong academic values. But today, people are being threatened, and students are being forced to protest," he said.
Claiming that anti-national slogans were being written on campus walls and students were being pushed into protests instead of studies, Modi said a government that could not protect its own premier educational institutions could not safeguard Bengal's future.
"We do not want anarchy; we want a healthy academic environment. We want dialogue here, not threats," he said.