Four professors from Jawaharlal Nehru University’s School of Social Sciences (SSS) who were superseded in the recent appointment of the dean by the Vice-Chancellor have urged him to revoke the “arbitrary” decision.
The V-C appointed Pradipta K. Chaudhary, the sixth in line of seniority, as the dean of SSS, a move which did not go down well with the teaching community as well as former professors of the university.
Professors Kunal Chakrabarti, Rajat Datta, Jayati Ghosh and Ravi Srivastava said the decision had “surprised” and “dismayed” as it went against the practice of going by seniority and rotation.
In a letter, they wrote, “This appointment has meant superseding five senior professors without citing any reason. This is clearly arbitrary and and unprecedented decision that has surprised and dismayed us.”
They claimed that such decisions would give rise to fear of arbitrariness and favouritism, thereby setting a dangerous precedent for future functioning of the institution.