Following the Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers' Association, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) unit of the university has also now demanded the appointment of a new Vice-Chancellor. The RSS' student wing has submitted a memorandum to President Ramnath Kovind, who also holds the position of university visitor, saying that a lot of decisions in the university's favour could not be taken in the absence of a permanent VC. Dr Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar is the officiating VC on extension.
The current Vice-Chancellor Dr Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar's tenure had ended in January this year. However, his term was extended until the appointment of a new VC. It's been six months, but there is no word on appointing a new VC. "The tenure of the JNU Vice-Chancellor was only until January 2021. Since then, the JNU VC Dr Jagadesh Kumar had been given an extension for six months due to which many important decisions could not be taken in the interest of the university. Hence the permanent position of the Vice-Chancellor becomes very important in the COVID period and thereafter," the ABVP said in a statement.
Mamidala's tenure as a VC was quite controversial and the various students' unions along with teachers have protested many times, seeking his removal. The JNUSU cabinets elected in 2017, 2018 and 2019 have accused him of not meeting with the students and for being biased. The JNU ABVP president Shivam Chaurasia, on the other hand, says that the ABVP's demand is 'genuine'. "The JNUSU was politically motivated, unlike us. We need a permanent VC to take care of the pandemic situation in the university," he says.
