NEW DELHI: Highlighting the delay in promotion and past service counting of teachers at Jawaharlal Nehru University, the teacher’s association on Tuesday shared the detailed statistics and the outcomes
of this delay. Speaking about the stringent guidelines of the University on promotions and past service counting, the JNUTA member said, “As of March 2022, 73% of assistant and 80% of associate professors were waiting for promotions for more than 5 to 6 years on average.”
The association said that because of this delay, a total of 378 PhD seats have been lost in 2021-22 alone as there is a cap on how many PhD students can be trained by assistant professors (can train six PhD students), associate professors (eight students) and professors (10).
The association also highlighted the issue of past service counting (PSC) stating that the new UGC guidelines had increased the trouble for teachers. “A new letter from the Ministry of Education to the University, based on the response it obtained from UGC, said that no past service can be counted between 2000-2010 since the UGC regulation 2000 did not mention past service.
However, in letters post-2000 to various universities and in response to several court cases, UGC writes that promotions and past service counting as per 1998 regulations were to be continued,” said Bishnupriya Dutt, President JNUTA. Dutt further claimed, “All faculty members due for promotion are currently being informally persuaded to apply under the 2018 UGC regulations, many with retrospective effect. If implemented, this will result in major losses of both seniority and financial benefits.”
A total of 206 promotions are due under the administration of Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar, while 70 promotions are due under earlier administration. They also highlight the caste and gender discrimination in the number of associate and assistant professors in the University.
