The JNU Teachers Association (JNUTA) on Tuesday questioned the delay in appointing the university’s new vice-chancellor, a year after the previous head’s term ended. “In the university system, the position of the vice-chancellor is an important a. Yet it has now been over a year since JNU, one of the top universities in the country, has been operating without a full-time vice chancellor.
several others Central Universities that had a similar vacancy have received new appointees. What then explains the delay in the case of JNU?” the association said in a statement. Currently, Mr. Jagadesh Kumar, who has been the Vice-Chancellor since 2016, is serving as the acting VC until the Ministry of Education appoints his successor.
“Guidelines issued by the Ministry of Education and JNU’s own regulations statutes explicitly prohibit vice chancellors whose term of office is formally over making decisions on policy matters of a material nature. Important decisions nonetheless policy matters are pushed through by the caretaker vice-chancellor without any discussion, which will have far-reaching consequences for JNU in the longer term,” the teachers’ association claimed.
“In terms of education, as the university transitioned to online teaching over time,
the pandemic – despite several requests, no financial support was provided to the faculty for the purchase of teaching materials by the university. No institutional subscription was provided to the faculty for an online platform where larger classes could be easily accommodated. He has not taken any steps personally to ensure that the faculty is duly rewarded with additional earned leave for working without a break over the past two years,” it further said.
There was no immediate response from Kumar to the issues raised by JNUTA.
