Two weeks after writing to the President about alleged violations in faculty recruitment, the professors of Jawaharlal Nehru University's School of Physical Sciences (SPS) have now demanded the resignation of Dean, Dr Kedar Singh. They have written to the Dean as well as the Vice-Chancellor Dr Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar with their demand.
The professors accused Dr Singh of not being able to "protect and promote" the interest of their junior colleagues. "This is one of the good institutions in the country and it is being degraded everyday. We've got numb. But we will pay a huge price for having these institutions destroyed," said a professor who is one of the signatories in the letter. "This is like stabbing yourself. And the stabbing might not take long but the wounds will take decades to heal," he added.
The professors had written to President Ram Nath Kovind alleging irregularities during faculty recruitment. "The faculty selected a few weeks back have been given offices and lab access while there are others who have been waiting for lab access for quite some time," said the professor who did not want to be identified. "The Registrar has gone to the point of saying that the existing faculty has no say in this as they are not involved. But we are the ones who are part the selection committee," he added. Actions like these gives birth to animosity between colleagues which is never helpful, said the professor.
The professors also suggested that the Dean of SPS has been in cahoots with the Registrar. "He (Registrar) has been made co-author in more than a few papers by the Dean and also co-supervisor for a few PhD students and one of them just had their Viva within five weeks. Which is record time in the department," he added.
But the professors are not too hopeful of any action from the VC's office. "We do not have much hope from the VC. We will not be helping or cooperating with the Dean without breaking any rules. We are still discussing our way forward," added the professor.
