Dr Romila Thapar is not the only one who received a letter from the Jawaharlal Nehru University administration asking for a recent curriculum vitae. Dr R Rajaraman (School of Physical Sciences), Dr T K Oommen (School of Social Sciences), Dr C K Varshney (School of Environmental Sciences) and Dr Ashok Sanjay Guha (School of International Studies) are some of the emeritus professors who have been asked to submit their CV.
Dr Rajaraman, the only emeritus professor of the School of Physical Sciences had already replied to the letter and is bewildered at this sudden summon. "I received the letter a month ago and I had replied to that as well but have not received a response from them. I pointed out that this professorship is supposedly a matter of honour and as far as I knew it was for life. I sent them this response right away but nothing beyond that," he said. "I come to university every day and work in my office. But I have very little to do with the administration. This came out of the blue for me. Some of the others who have received a similar letter, Dr C K Varshney and Dr Ashok Sanjay Guha, got in touch with me later," the professor added.
The university website has a page that lists the university's emeritus professors. But not all of them have a CV attached to their name. But Dr Thapar and Dr Rajaraman have their CV online. "My CV is already on the website and I update it regularly to add my current work," said the professor who been an emeritus professor for the past 15 years and has been a professor at JNU from 1993 to 2004. He has hels various prestigious posts and taught at the best of schools across the globe — like the other emeritus professors.
The JNU Teachers' Association said that the teachers' representatives who were present at the meeting that passed the ordinance had protested against the move but their voices went unheard. "The Executive Council is full of the VC's handpicked people and the voice of teachers represented through the elected teachers' representatives in the JNU Executive Council are ignored," said JNUTA Secretary and Associate Professor Avinash Kumar.
