JNU Teachers Association questions delay in appointment of university VC

The JNU Teachers Association (JNUTA) on Tuesday questioned the delay in appointment of new Vice Chancellor of the university an year after the previous head's tenure ended.

"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?," the association said in a statement.

Currently M Jagadesh Kumar, who has been the Vice Chancellor since 2016, is holding the charge as acting VC, till the Ministry of Education appoints his successor.

"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 longer run," the teachers association alleged.

"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. 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 further said.

There was no immediate reaction from Kumar on the issues raised by JNUTA.