March 08 (TSP Bangla) – Students who completed their graduation and post-graduation from Gour Banga University are paying as much as ₹3,000 to obtain their original certificates within three working days, triggering discontent among applicants who need the documents urgently.
Many applicants said the situation has arisen largely because the university has not held its convocation for more than seven years. As a result, students who passed out after 2017 have had to rely on provisional certificates instead of original ones.
The urgency has increased after the West Bengal School Service Commission began counselling for candidates who cleared the recruitment examination for teachers of Classes XI and XII. The commission has asked candidates to produce original university certificates, prompting several former GBU students to apply for them on an urgent basis.
According to university sources, students who have passed their final graduation or post-graduation examinations must pay ₹1,000 to obtain the original certificate within seven working days. However, those who want the certificate within three working days have to pay ₹3,000, a fee approved by the university’s executive council.
Khalida Parveen, a former student of the university, voiced her dissatisfaction over the issue on social media.
“Earlier, too, we had to pay ₹1,500 to collect provisional certificates for each of the graduation and post-graduation examinations and now, the varsity is demanding ₹3,000 to issue the original certificate. This is indeed a burden on students from middle-class backgrounds,” she wrote.
This effectively means that students trying to obtain their certificates within three days end up spending around ₹4,500 — ₹1,500 for the provisional certificate and ₹3,000 for the original one.
The convocation at Gour Banga University has not been held for several years because of various reasons, including delays in appointing a vice-chancellor. Had the convocation been organised, students would have received their original certificates immediately on payment of a ₹1,000 fee.
Several other former students have voiced similar concerns, saying the delay in holding the convocation has forced many of them to spend significantly more to obtain their certificates urgently.
“We are not responsible for the university not holding the convocation. But we are paying the price for it,” said another applicant seeking an original certificate.
Ashis Bhattacharjee, the vice-chancellor of Gour Banga University, said the university was aware of the issue.
“It is true that the convocation has not been held for the past eight years. I joined the GBU in November 2025 and we are trying to take up the convocation issue in the next meeting of the executive council,” he said.
Bhattacharjee added that the fee structure had already been approved by the EC. “The decision to charge ₹3,000 for issuance of the original certificate within three working days and ₹1,000 within seven working days was taken by the EC, the highest decision-making body of the university. We are only implementing the decision,” he said.
