Page:Modern review 1921 v29.pdf/556

Rh (= Rs 30000), but the Dacca Vice-Chancellor gets Rs 48,000 per annum and a residence. We know he must be paid some thing extra for serving in a foreign country. But does that mean that he must get twice or almost twice as much as the Scottish officers of similar rank, who are presumably not scholars of inferior stamp?

It is a matter of common knowledge that Calcutta university is in dire pecuniary straits. At the same time there is waste. As there does not seem to be any thoroughly independent audit of its accounts and a thoroughly independent inspection of its affairs, nobody can ascertain the extent of wasteful expenditure of which it is guilty. But as samples, we mention a few small items. We are informed and write subject to correction that ten thousand copies of the report of Post-graduate Teaching in the university of Calcutta are printed, and numerous copies of it are sent to foreign countries by post. We do not know how the object of “The Advancement of Learning” is promoted by this waste of money, nor according to what rule or regulation and under whose orders so many copies are printed. Three thousand copies of a book on sociology were printed and published by the university, and then the edition had to be suppressed. We read in the Minutes of the Syndicate, dated the 4th March, 1921, that the charges of feeding the delegates of the Indian Science Congress, who put up at the Hardinge Hostel, have been ordered by the Syndicate to be paid out of university funds. The charges amount to only Rs 300, but why should the university pay for feeding the delegates to the Science Congress? The two bodies are in no way connected with each other.

For years we have pointed out irregularities and defects in the working of the Calcutta university, but there has been no improvement, for which one reason is that there is no vigilant public opinion. And what little public opinion there is can not work in the absence of adequate information. Calcutta journalists have made no combined effort to obtain information. We have had to depend on the chance supplies of information. But even if there had been an adequate supply of information and even if there had been a vigilant public opinion, Sir would have been able, as at present, to do what he pleased. For, as stated by Mr, a Post-graduate teacher of the University, in an article contributed by him to the Phalgun number of “Manasi O Marmabani”, Sir Asutosh holds the majority of votes in all university bodies in the hollow of his hands. The passage is quoted in part below in the original

"বিশ্ববিদ্যালয় সম্পর্কে সার আশুতোষের প্রধান অপরাধ তিনি বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ের বিভিন্ন বিভাগে নিজের আত্মীয় এবং অনুগত লোক ঢুকাইতে একান্ত ব্যস্ত। ইহাতে হয়ত সময়-সময় যোগ্যতম লোকের সেখানে প্রবেশ করা ঘটিয়া ওঠে না। সুতরাং আত্মীয় এবং অনুগত জনের একান্ত পক্ষপাত সকল সময় অনুমোদন করা কঠিন। কিন্তু এইপ্রকার পক্ষপাতকে নিতান্ত দোষ বলিয়া ঘোষণা করিবার পূর্ব্বে স্মরণ রাখা কর্ত্তব্য যে সার আশুতোষের যে কিছু পদ প্রতিপত্তি তাহা ভোটার উপর নির্ভর করে। এক্ষেত্রে ভোটারের মধ্যে যত অধিক লোক সার আশুতোষের আত্মীয় অনুগত এবং নির্ভরযোগ্য হইবেন, ততই তিনি নিরাপদে এবং নিশ্চিন্ত মনে কাজ করিতে সমর্থ হইবেন। অর্থাৎ বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ে সার আশুতোষের নিজের প্রভাব অক্ষুন্ন রাখিতে হইলে আত্মীয় অন্তরং ঢুকান প্রয়োজন। যদি একবার এই কথা স্বীকার করা যায়, তবে তাঁহার অনেক কাজ ততটা নিন্দনীয় বলিয়া বিবেচিত হইবে না। সার আশুতোষকে বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ের কিছু কাজ করিতে হইলে সেখানকার প্রত্যেক সমিতির অধিকাংশ ভোট নিজের হাতের মুঠোয় রাখিতে হইবে। নতুবা তিনি কিছু করিতে পারিবেন না। নানা উপায়ে এইরূপ করিতে সমর্থ হইয়াছেন বলিয়াই সার আশুতোষ বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ের সর্ব্বেসর্ব্বা অথবা ইংরেজিতে যাহাকে ডিকটেটর বলে সেই ডিকটেটর হইয়াছেন।"

Freely translated the passage means

“The chief offence alleged against Sir Asutosh is that he is extremely eager to get his own kith and kin and dependants into the different departments of the University. Perhaps this occasionally prevents the accession of the fittest men there. Consequently it is difficult on all occasions to approve of the extreme partiality towards relatives and followers. But before declaring partiality of this sort to be a fault it should be remembered that whatever position and authority (or influence) Sir Asutosh has depends upon votes. Under the circumstances, the larger the number of persons among the voters who are his kith and kin and followers and are “dependable”, the more safely and with a mind free from anxiety would he be able to work. That is to say, in order to keep his influence in the University 68-14