Kolkata: State education minister Partha Chatterjee on Tuesday voiced serious concern over falling quality of students in the state and the falling standard of the state universities.

Mr Chatterjee was speaking at an event organised by West Bengal College and University Professors’ Association at Jadavpur University.

“There are a large number of intellectuals in our state but we are not producing enough meritorious students. Of course we have universities like Calcutta University and Jadavpur University but we cannot always rely on these two universities. There are other state universities here and they should produce good students too. If do not produce good students then we will not get good citizens,” Mr Chatterjee said during his speech. However, his comments sparked off a controversy which forced him to give an explanation at the end of the event.

The members of the education fraternity wondered whether the education minister was pointing fingers at more than 10 state universities which were set up under the TMC rule. According to them, the state government must take the blame for the falling standard of these state universities.

In a bid to cover up his earlier statements, Mr Chatterjee later said, “The universities will have to work hard to improve the excellence and the infrastructure as well. There is a lack of infrastructure in several state universities and we have to improve it one by one. The teachers will have to take regular classes and the students need to attend them.”