The JNU teachers’ association recently went on a hunger strike against the alleged discriminatory processes in appointments and promotions. Vice-Chancellor Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit says she is the one who has conducted the highest number of appointments and promotions despite a lot of professors not matching the ‘promotion’ eligibility as per the 2018 rules of the education ministry, while interacting with Ifrah Mufti. Excerpts:
JNU continues to retain the second position in the NIRF rankings, leaving behind IIT Delhi. How was this made possible?
I am delighted. This time, we were ahead of IIMs and IITs in QS ranking. JNU is doing well. I thank the faculty and the students for cooperating with me. But JNU still needs to get the tag of eminence, which universities much below JNU, like BHU (Banaras Hindu University), and HCU (University of Hyderabad) have got. For the last three years, we have been maintaining our ranking. We are among the toppers, but our infrastructure is a problem. The 55-year-old varsity has a 50-year-old infrastructure.
Students have been raising questions about the JNU’s democratic values as they are being banned from holding protests in front of certain offices. Do you feel that students should be given more freedom?
I am not against any democratic values. I believe democracy means that anyone can meet me at any point in time. The JNUSU president keeps meeting now and then. I have not made laws banning the protest in front of the offices. The last administration embarked on it, and the Delhi High Court implemented it. If you don’t like the laws, go and file an appeal in the court. I tell the students to ask the court to withdraw it. In the last regime, there were a lot of orders by the High Court.
We generally ask students to demonstrate their protest at the Sabarmati lawns, but they forcefully close the main gate, and several students suffer from this. The JNU is on 2,000 acres, and students are forced to walk miles if they close the main gate. I am not saying that don’t protest, but it is not allowed at the administrative offices as per the High Court orders.
Students have also questioned the imposition of fines for protesting against water issues and even sexual harassment. Fines as huge as Rs 20,000 have been slapped on some. Your take?
As far as fines are concerned, the highest is Rs 20,000 but as students appealed against it, we brought it down to Rs 5,000, Rs 3,000 and even Rs 2,000. Many of them paid. They can go to court and contest fines. Twenty-two students went against my proctorial orders, and the court has told them to pay the fines. I have given common amnesty to all those charged in 2019 by the previous administration. I removed all proctorial enquiries. There are some habitual history sheeters. Meanwhile, it was not the water issue they were protesting against. They reached my house at 11:30 pm and used abusive language. They went and sat on the main road, stopping the traffic. Police even asked me to file an FIR, but I didn’t let it happen. While the one who was protesting against sexual harassment was not fined for protesting for her rights but for closing the main gate of the university for many days. She gave contradictory statements in her case. Firstly, she gave us a recording that there was no physical harassment or any physical touch involved and then after 13 days, she went on closing the main gate and sat on a protest, saying that she was a sexual harassment survivor. What do we do with such cases?
What has been the issue with the Barak hostel, whose foundation stone was laid in 2017? Students and teachers have been demanding allocation but to no avail so far.
The hostel was given by the North East Council. They have released the money, but how can we take charge if the construction still needs to be completed? The CPWD started the construction. How will we run the hostel where students stay for Rs 10 and Rs 20? How will we pay the mess and sanitary workers when students are not ready to bear the burden? How will I generate the money? We need Rs 2 crore every year for this. Another problem with the North East Council is that they want 25 per cent of the students from the North East to be admitted to the hostels. Implementing that in JNU will be problematic as we are an inclusive place. Because of all this, we have been unable to open the hostel. If I open and allow the students to occupy, I will have another protest the next day. The hostel is not functional. We need a fully functional hostel. Otherwise, we don’t need it. Nobody is on the roads in JNU. It has been eight years, and the work is still in progress.
Recently, the JNUTA went on a hunger strike against the alleged discriminatory processes in appointments and promotions. Your comment?
Well, I have made the highest number of CAS (Career Advancement Scheme) promotions in the entire history of JNU. There have been no CAS promotions since 2006; I started it in 2022. I am still trying to complete the huge backlog left by the predecessors. It is the discretion of the Vice-Chancellor, and I am giving the promotions with the retrospective. I see a lot of professors not up to the mark as per the 2018 regulations as CAS is way more difficult in terms of technicalities. Many JNU professors lag in this. I have asked the professors to rectify it and come back to me. I have given everybody a promotion except where the cases are in court. I can’t touch them. In CAS promotions, the UGC (University Grants Commission) and the Union Education Ministry go through it. I was an active teacher union person, so I believe teachers should be given promotions.