JNU’S VC tweaked rules, got loyalists on key posts
NEW DELHI: The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) administration, headed by vice chancellor (VC) M Jagadesh Kumar, appointed several faculty members who were either freshly inducted with changes to the selection process or promoted in alleged violation of seniority and rotation norms to key roles that allowed them to control crucial administrative functions of the university over the last three years, according to several people familiar with the matter.
These appointments, the elected faculty body JNU Teachers’ Association (JNUTA) and elected students’ body JNU Students’ Association (JNUSU) allege, allowed the administration to push forward its schemes in a bid to “change JNU’S decision-making process” and the “nature of the university”.
According to JNUTA, which has about 600 members out of JNU’S 700-strong faculty, in at least 14 cases of recruitment in the past three years, the selection committee was changed to favour “loyalists”. Of those, 12 appointees were later made wardens in JNU hostels and the other two were given key roles as proctor and chief proctor.
There are also allegations that the university administration violated “norms of seniority and rotation” in appointment of at least eight Deans of Schools and 21 chairpersons of Centres between 2017 and 2019. These people hold positions in the top decision-making bodies of the university – all in the Academic Council (AC), and four in the Executive Council (EC).
While the AC takes all academic decisions such as admission, attendance and recruitment, the 23-member EC is the final authority and takes calls on all matters passed by the AC. The EC is also in charge of the general management and administration, including the revenue and property of the university.
In the last three years, some of the decisions taken in the AC and EC, including making seat cut in Mphil and PHD in 2017, making attendance mandatory for students and teachers in 2018, inviting bids to replace dhabas with cafeterias in 2018 and adopting online mode entrance exam in the same year, became major contention points between the students, faculty and administration.
Of the 47 faculty members appointed by Jagadesh Kumar