St Xavier’s University has decided to confer a D Litt on Mamata Banerjee for spreading higher education. Sources said that a proposal in this regard was sent to the West Bengal chief minister’s office and Banerjee is learnt to have accepted it.
Banerjee will be conferred the honorary Doctor of Letters degree at the university’s annual convocation on February 6 next year. Over 700 students will get their undergraduate and postgraduate degrees at the event.
Vice-Chancellor Father Felix Raj told PTI that the Chief Minister’s office (CMO) has given its approval to the university’s proposal of conferring her DLitt (Doctor of Letters) at its annual convocation on February 6 next year.
“We got her official approval. Also, she herself made the announcement in the state assembly on Friday. We want to confer the honorary DLitt to her for her role in the spread of higher education,” he said.
He also said that the university wanted to honour her as she had greatly helped to establish the institution in 2017. The private university was set up in New Town near Kolkata on a land given during the TMC government. In January 2018, the state-run Calcutta University conferred an honorary DLitt on the Chief Minister in recognition of her social service.
It may be recalled that St Xavier’s University, a private institution, was given land to set up its campus in Rajarhat under the TMC government. Banerjee also attended several events at St Xavier’s College in Park Street, Kolkata , especially during christmas.
In 2018, the University of Calcutta similarly conferred a D Litt on the chief minister at its annual convocation. The move, however, triggered a controversy with Opposition parties criticising the university’s decision.
