NEW DELHI: The ongoing selection process for the next vice chancellor (VC) of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has evoked sharp criticism from academics, including an applicant who has withdrawn himself from the race accusing the panel of favouring a few at the expense of merit.
Kapil Kumar, the chairperson of the faculty of history at the School of Social Sciences in the Indira Gandhi National Open University, opted out few days before the candidates were shortlisted, slamming the process of selection. Talking to The Sunday Standard, he alleged that “academic merit does not count for the panel” and there was lack of transparency. He said some of the candidates shortlisted “do not deserve to be there at the first place itself”.
The current VC, S K Sopory, demits office in January 2016.
Candidates shortlisted include Bilaspur University VC Gauri Dutt Sharma, Indian Institute of Advance Studies, Shimla, chairperson Chandrakala Padia and Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur University VC Rama Shankar Dubey.
Padia, considered close to the RSS, was made IIAS chairperson shortly after the NDA came to power last year. Her appointment then was also mired in controversy, as IIAS secretary Sunil Verma had quit soon thereafter following differences with her.
Among other selected candidates for the final round is IIM-Ahmedabad professor Anil Gupta, who strongly believes that management graduates should have a short stint in rural areas, and Yogesh Kumar Tyagi, who is the dean of law faculty in the South Asian University here. He is a favourite among JNU professors.
The search-cum-selection panel is being chaired by director of National Assessment and Accreditation Council and former VC of Banaras Hindu University Dhirendra Pal Singh, and comprises members such as former ISRO chief K Radhakrishnan and former diplomat Ashok Sen. While Singh is the nominee of the President, the other two have been appointed based on recommendations of the JNU executive council. The other member of the committee who is the nominee of the HRD Ministry is Kapil Kapoor, chairperson of India Policy Foundation, an RSS-affiliated think tank.
One of the senior faculty members in JNU, who has been following the selection process, said there was sharp differences in the committee over the short-listing of candidates. While a few vouched for merit-based selection, the others contended that merit alone does not make a good VC.
In the keenly watched selection, five candidates from JNU too figure among the shortlisted. They are: former dean of students Vinod Kumar Jain, Prof Rakesh Bhatnagar, Prof Uttam K Pati, Prof R N K Bemezai and Prof Ramakrishna Ramaswamy. The latter has a strong support base within the campus among academics.
The selection panel is expected to pick four candidates from those shortlisted and send their recommendations to the HRD ministry. The ministry will then recommend to the President the names of the three best candidates.
BJP leader Subramanian Swamy had in September created a stir by claiming that he had been offered the VC’s post but that he had attached some riders before accepting it. HRD minister Smriti Irani later dismissed such reports, as Swamy was well over the eligible age of 70.