JNUTA asks Education Ministry to appoint full-time vice-chancellor
The Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers' Association (JNUTA) on Tuesday, January 25 denounced institutional intimidation against teachers. The JNUTA had also spoken out against the continued inaction of JNU administration and the Delhi Police.
The teachers' association urged the Ministry of Education to end M Jagadesh Kumar's 'illegal prolongation' as temporary vice-chancellor of JNU. They also demanded the appointment of a full-time Vice-Chancellor for JNU.
In a press statement, the JNUTA said, "In the university system, the position of the Vice Chancellor is an important one. Yet it has been over a year now that JNU, one of the premiere universities of the country, has been functioning without a full time Vice Chancellor. Several other Central Universities that had a similar vacancy have had new appointees." "What then explains the delay in the case of JNU?" it asked.
"Directives issued by the Ministry of Education and provisions of JNU's own statutes explicitly forbid Vice Chancellors whose tenures are formally over from taking decisions on policy matters of a substantive nature. Yet, important decisions related to policy matters are being pushed through by the Caretaker Vice Chancellor, without any discussion, that have far reaching consequences for JNU in the long run," it said.
The JNUTA further alleged that despite several requests there was no financial help provided to faculty for purchase of teaching aids by the university. "On the teaching front, while the university moved to online teaching during the Pandemic - despite several requests there was no financial help provided to faculty for purchase of teaching aids by the university. No institutional subscription was provided to faculty for any online platform wherein bigger classes could be easily accommodated.”
“To top it all, the Caretaker Vice Chancellor paid no heed to demands for a review of online teaching and learning suggested by faculty representatives. No steps were taken by him to personally ensure that faculty were duly rewarded with additional Earned Leave for working without any break over the past two years," it said.
The association said, "Financial bottlenecks due to administrative incompetence have meant that many regular academic and outreach programs have suffered immeasurably and many faculty members have had to face cutbacks in research support."
"This financial mismanagement has also caused a shocking deterioration in the housing facilities provided for faculty members (for which they pay rent), with roofs literally collapsing on the heads of residents and water leakage being commonplace," it added.
JNUTA strongly criticised the caretaker vice-chancellor's 'authoritarian behaviour,' that of muting the microphones of members of the Academic Council and faculty members to prevent them from speaking.
The teachers' association said, "The illegalities committed by the VC on the appointment of Chairpersons have similarly been called out by the Delhi High Court, yet the VC continues to brazen it out by simply ignoring university processes in administrative matters. His practice of muting microphones of those who raise questions on his way of functioning during meetings of statutory bodies, his willful distortion of minutes and records of proceedings, and last minute introduction of important agenda matters so that they can be rushed through illegally, the orchestrated bullying of those who do show the integrity to stand up to illegalities, is by now a well recognized pattern of functioning adopted by the administration led by him."
"The security situation on campus has also been deteriorating as was evident in the recent incidents of violence against two women students. The spate of burglaries on campus has further strengthened the grounds for removal of the security company, Cyclops, from the pay rolls of the university. Yet, the Vice Chancellor has not taken any action against Cyclops for non-performance of essential duties. Prof Jagadesh Kumar has chosen to govern the university on his own personal whims and fancies. The Delhi High Court in several of its judgements has explicitly pointed to the transgressions committed by the JNU Vice Chancellor, raising thereby serious concerns about his administrative misgovernance. These court directives again have been largely ignored by him in both sum and substance," the JNUTA said.
Condemning two years of inaction of the JNU administration, the JNUTA questioned the Education Ministry, "Who is responsible for the less than satisfactory functioning of the university over the past one year; can a Caretaker Vice Chancellor be allowed to run the university as per his own personal whims and fancies; can the Ministry afford to remain silent in such a situation on the illegalities committed by the Caretaker Vice Chancellor in JNU, and finally when and how soon will the Ministry announce a full time Vice Chancellor for JNU."