Following the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) arrest of the chairman and six members of the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), the All India Students' Association (AISA) has given a call for protest tomorrow, February 7, against the scams and irregularities by the autonomous bodies.
"Scam after scam by 'autonomous' agencies in the Modi Raj!
First NTA, now NAAC, the real consequence of Sanghi infiltration in education is showing to the students all across the country.
Why is Mamidala silent? Why is education minister not holding the NAAC President and UGC Chief accountable?
Mamidala must resign!," the AISA's message read.
Further, it said, "Join Protest at UGC Headquarters! 7th February, 2 PM!"
To recall, the NAAC debarred seven members of its inspection committee, who were arrested by the CBI for bribery and favourable ratings to colleges and universities for evaluation.
Speaking more on this, on February 5, NAAC Executive Committee Chairman Prof Anil D Sahasrabudhe said that the council is probing their past one-year visits, stated the Hindustan Times.
NAAC Inspection Committee Chairman Samarendra Nath Saha (Vice-Chancellor, Ramchandra Chandravansi University) and members Rajeev Sijariya (Jawaharlal Nehru University), Gayathri Devaraja (Davangere University), M Hanumanthappa (Bangalore University), and Guntur’s Koneru Lakshmaiah Education Foundation (KLEF) office bearers were among the 10 people arrested by the CBI for the alleged bribery.
Criticising the incident and urging for accountability from the University Grants Commission (UGC) and its chairman, M Jagadesh Kumar, AISA calls all student groups to join the protest at UGC Headquarters.
Speaking to EdexLive, Abhigyan Devyani Gandhi from AISA Delhi said, "The culture of autonomous bodies such as NAAC and NTA (National Testing Agency) is dependent on the government, which means on taxpayers money. However, they don't abide by the legitimate rules and regulations. The UGC chairman is the president of NAAC, but no one is pointing a finger at him."
He drew attention to the immediate need for a change in the culture of autonomous bodies to overcome irregularities. Further, he disclosed that the protest call for the campaign was aggressively held today across all Delhi colleges.
"JNU, once a beacon of academic freedom, is now at the forefront of this assault on higher education. Unless resisted, this destruction will continue, erasing the core values of intellectual inquiry and dissent that universities are meant to uphold," AISA's statement read.
Demanding reevaluation of alleged "political appointments of unqualified individuals, including those accused of plagiarism, sexual harassment, and fraud," who severely undermine the integrity of academic research, AISA said, "Specific investigation should be initiated regarding the case of Rajeev Sijariya. Time and again, we have seen that the major kingpins are kept hidden in the back while sacrificing their minions in order to protect the cabals of Sanghi organisations. We demand that all possible allies of Sijariya should be investigated and brought to the book."
According to AISA's statement, a few professors who are politically appointed are:
1) Saurabh Sharma – Assistant professor at the School of Computer & Systems Sciences (SC&SS)
2) Dr TV Vijay Kumar – Former Dean of SC&SS
3) Abhijeet Dwivedi (corporate law), Deep Narayan Pandey (transportation in Ethiopia) and Nikunj Makwana (community medicine) from the Special Centre for Disaster Research (SCDR)
4) Buddha Singh – Assistant professor in the School of Computer and Systems Sciences
5) Atul Johri – Professor at the School of Life Sciences
