The fifth ‘Golden Jubilee Colloquium' talk was delivered by Prof. P. Chattopadhyay, Former Professor, Burdwan University and an eminent scholar in the field of Commerce and Managementon on 27th April, 2015. He delivered his talk on the topic “The Key to Key elements in Corporate Governance of State and Central Universities in India”. Prof. P. Chattopadhyay started his talk by emphasizing on the importance of team as he defined the team as Togetherness, Energizing, Actualizing, and Measurement. He further defined the term Corporate Governance in his own words and emphasized on the work of the different organs of Corporate Governance, viz. audit committee, independent directors and others. Creativity and independent thinking are the elements of Corporate Governance. However he was critical on the positioning of independent thinking among the members of the Universities. In this context, he argued that honesty has been often forgotten while performing the duties. He cited the examples of Enron which became bankrupt due to the poor Corporate Governance and here he questioned the relevance of Corporate Governance too!
In the University context, Prof. Chattopadhyay was of the view that people do not have a uniform language to share their feelings rather they tend to blame others for the wrong things happened. A company has a distinct entity and in that context, Universities are also same, as these are created under the Special Act. The experts of different departments are capable of doing much more then what they are actually doing. By questioning “what can be done in this area?’ he was critical about the present concept of “Extra Curricular activities” as often uttered in the university format. Citing the examples of eminent persons like Amartya Sen, he said that Indian Universities are not capable of nurturing the talent. Another key element of Corporate Governance is Control. In any organization it should be the endeavour of everyone to work together for the benefit of the entire organization. Prof. Chattopadhyay said that in a company, control depends on the volume of shareholding but it is not the case for Universities. According to him the work of the Universities should be the outcome of original idea. Its work should not be based on profit motive.
Prof. Chattopadhyay’s deliberation draws many queries. Answering to the queries of the house, he said that Corporate Governance in any organization can be achieved with team work and with a strong leader and clarity of objectives. On to the query related to the introduction of something like independent directors in Universities, he said that it can be possible if it is permissible under law. Finally, he said that the University should work independently but not with only autonomy to achieve the main objectives of Governance.