The Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers’ Association (JNUTA) appealed to the newly appointed Vice-Chancellor Santishree D Pandit to “restore the sanctity” of statutory bodies and engage in transparent dialogic processes of decision making for a “peaceful and productive” tenure. Professor Santishree D Pandit was appointed as the vice-chancellor of JNU on Monday.
She succeeds Professor M Jagadesh Kumar, who had a controversial tenure and students and teachers often criticised him for several issues. “The long wait for a new Vice Chancellor for the Jawaharlal Nehru University is finally over… As the head of the university, the JNUTA specifically calls upon her to restore the sanctity of statutory bodies, engage in transparent dialogic processes of decision making, observe the principle of seniority by rotation in matters of appointments of Deans and Chairpersons,” the teachers’ body said.
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The JNUTA statement also urged her to maintain rigorous financial scrutiny in all administrative matters and ensure implementation of robust regulatory mechanisms to maintain checks and balances, “such that the next five years of her tenure are peaceful, productive and academically enabling for the diverse spectrum of opinions that a university like JNU produces”. Pandit is the first woman vice-chancellor of the university.
The JNUTA said it will present to the new administration demands for ensuring a non-partisan administration and restoring teaching-learning activities according to statutes and ordinances of the university. “As the elected body of teachers, JNUTA will continue to exercise critical vigilance over all related matters to the well-being of the university,” it said.
Meanwhile, the JNU Students’ Union (JNUSU) said they were denied a meeting with the new vice-chancellor. “Today, I along with other SU members reached JNU VC’s office to meet her and hand over a charter of demands on behalf of the student community. We wanted to highlight the issues, hoping for discussion. We were denied entry, despite VC’s assurance to work along with the students,” JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh said in a tweet.
The representatives of JNU unit of RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) met the vice-chancellor to welcome her. “AbVP-JNU hearty welcomes Prof. Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit Ma’am as Vice-Chancellor of JNU. ABVP JNU President @Shivam_JNU and Secretary @_RohitJNU welcomed Ma’am with Tulsi plant and bouquet of flowers. We look forward to her tenure for providing better academic atmosphere,” the ABVP said in a tweet.
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Former JNUSU president N Sai Balaji alleged that he was allowed to register for the new semester since he did not pay a fine for allegedly defacing the walls of the campus. Following a proctorial inquiry, Balaji was found guilty of pasting posters on the campus wall and was fined Rs 6,000 in October last year. He was directed to pay the fine within 10 days but he didn’t.
“The old VC imposed fine on me along with other student activists for pasting posters claiming it’s ‘defacement of campus’. The new VC has denied me admission for not paying the FINE! JNU has a long legacy of walls speaking for students. Now its a crime to continue the legacy!” he alleged in a Facebook post.
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