The Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers Association (JNUTA) wrote to new Chancellor Kanwal Sibal congratulating him for being appointed. Additionally, administrative lapses were also pointed out by the association.
"We are deeply saddened that even this historic occasion, the 50th meeting of this August body and the first to be chaired by you, is being held online without any legitimate basis," it said stressing that they were deprived of the in-person greeting to the newly appointed chancellor due to the decision of the JNU administration to hold the 50th meeting of the University Court through video conference.
Stating that all meetings of the university level statutory bodies have been held only in online mode since April 2020, the association said, "That all meetings are held online and are usually very short is symptomatic of a larger malaise that afflicts JNU’s governance today – the absence of broad-based consultation, due deliberation and proper application of mind in the decision-making processes, which has undermined democratic functioning and fostered administrative hubris and lack of accountability."
As per the letter, the issues listed are:
1. Violations in the faculty appointments and promotions under the Career Advancement Scheme (CAS)
2. The University’s Annual Report for 2022-23 revealed that in 2022-23, the proportion of women students was just 43 per cent as against 51.4 in 2017-18. This disturbing trend has not even evoked any serious discussion, let alone a clear diagnosis of its causes and corrective measures
3. The accounts indeed show expenditure on Academic Expenses of Rs 17.69 crores in 2022-23, a figure which used to be upwards of Rs 30 cores from 2012-13 to 2017-18, the year it touched a peak level of Rs. 38.37
4. The absence of proper discussion with faculty also marks the adoption/amendments of the Ordinances that too will be placed before the University Court
5. JNU’s Academic Calendar 2023-24 remains truncated with shortening the length of the Master of Arts I semester by a full month and expecting to teach more than 60 per cent of each course
Other issues are related to, "admission procedure, deprivation points, the absence of creche facility, the state of infrastructure, etc. There are also new concerns, like the illegal decision of the University to withhold 10 percent of the gratuity of retiring colleagues, and problems of pay protection of newly recruited faculty," the letter added. Further, the association alleges that the JNU administration appears to have firmly shut the doors for any dialogue with the teachers and their representatives.
