Calcutta, Dec. 5: The Trinamul Congress has breached another CPM citadel: the powerful body of college and university teachers whose writ runs over all things academic in Bengal and whose general secretaries often rise to become higher education minister.

For the first time in the recent history of the 83-year-old West Bengal College and University Teachers’ Association (WBCUTA), a chunk of its members have decided to boycott its annual general meeting (AGM), slated tomorrow.

The rebels are led by a few senior association officials who switched loyalties to Trinamul about a year ago and floated a forum, the Democratic Teachers for Autonomy and Academic Freedom (DTAAF).

The ostensible reason for the boycott: the WBCUTA leadership’s failure to pressure the state government to raise the retirement age of college teachers from 60 to 65 years, as recommended by the Centre.

The rebels today kicked off a parallel programme at College Square, right opposite the University Institute Hall, the venue of the WBCUTA meeting, to denounce the association leadership.

Attendance hovered around 500 — a significant number because the turnouts at the association’s AGMs usually range from 1,000 to 1,200. Forum leaders claimed the support of 40 per cent of association members, who number over 9,000 across the state.

The forum is made up mainly by supporters of Trinamul, the Congress and the SUCI and a few from Left parties like the CPI and the Forward Bloc.

“WBCUTA leaders have completely shifted from the association’s main objectives,” said association vice-president Kalyanmoy Ganguly, a rebel leader. “The WBCUTA leadership is engaged more in advocating some of the state government’s faulty policies even if the policies are anti-teacher.”

Association general secretary Tarun Patra hoped the forum’s agitation would not affect the attendance at tomorrow’s AGM.

“All members are free to express their grievances at the AGM,” Patra said, adding that the forum’s demand on retirement age will be discussed at tomorrow’s meeting. “But I have to admit that this kind of parallel programme was never organised in the past.”

Patra’s predecessor Sudarshan Ray Chaudhuri is now higher education minister. Satyasadhan Chakraborty, who was higher education minister before Ray Chaudhuri, too had been WBCUTA general secretary.

The WBCUTA’s clout rose during Left Front rule when Anil Biswas, who headed the CPM’s education cell, took control of Bengal’s education system.

Teachers say no policy is implemented without the association’s nod. It controls undergraduate education at the Universities of Calcutta, Burdwan, North Bengal and Kalyani and even the new ones such as the West Bengal State University in Barasat and Gour Banga University, Malda.

The association recently suffered a rare setback with the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government moving to grant autonomy to Presidency College against its wishes, but its influence is largely undiminished.

Bengal’s universities are yet to implement the two-year-old UGC recommendation for a semester system at the undergraduate level because the WBCUTA is against it.

The association recently forced the West Bengal State University to shelve its decision to introduce internal assessment of BA, BSc and BCom students because the varsity had not sounded out the WBCUTA first.