The West Bengal government on Monday said it will examine the legality of the letter sent by Governor C V Ananda Bose to the vice-chancellors of state universities asking them to send weekly reports to Raj Bhavan on the programmes and activities of the higher educational institutions.

Bose, who is also the chancellor of the state-run universities, in a letter to the VCs on April 6, had asked them to send "weekly activity reports” of their respective institutions from now on. As Raj Bhavan received no such reports, it has reminded the VCs of the earlier letter in a fresh missive on May 19.

Education Minister Bratya Basu told reporters: "Our stand remains the same. This is an iteration of the earlier despatch by the honourable governor. I will consult with the chief minister and decide about our future course of action. We need to examine the legal validity of such letters."

Bose’s first letter had not gone down well with the government. Basu then said it had no legal sanction and the governor cannot seek such reports unilaterally without taking the state government in confidence.

A senior Jadavpur University official told PTI, the institute "communicates with the governor, who is the chancellor, on different academic and administrative issues which is a normal process. But I am not sure if that is called weekly update." "We got the first letter for weekly activity report in April. Don't know about any fresh letter in recent days," an official of Calcutta University said.