The Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers’ Association (JNUTA) held an Executive Committee meeting on Wednesday to discuss the decision of the JNU Executive Council (EC) to set up an inquiry panel against deans and chairpersons who have expressed their dissent against the introduction of compulsory attendance.
‘Anger expressed’
The secretary of the association said that teachers expressed their anger against the inquiry set up by the EC and that they have called for an emergency general body meeting (GBM) on Friday to discuss course of action.
“Unlike the V-C, an office-bearer of the JNUTA cannot take a decision on their own. We will discuss the issue at the GBM and come up with how we are going to deal with such an inquiry against senior faculty members,” said the secretary.
The JNUTA is opposing the introduction of the mandatory attendance rule, pointing out that the issue was not discussed at the Academic Council (AC) meeting in December and has been undemocratically imposed on the university by the Vice-Chancellor.
A second Academic Council meeting at the end of February in which the students and teachers were going to raise the issue was postponed indefinitely and therefore the minutes of the meeting in December have not yet been passed.
Attendance decision
A member of the EC said that the deans and chairpersons opposing the new rule could face action, including removal from their posts, as they have not started implementing the administration’s decision of marking attendance.
Last year, the V-C had superseded several senior faculty members in appointment of the Dean, School of Social Sciences.The move had not got down well with teachers who had asked him to revoke his “arbitrary” decision. A member of the EC has alleged that the V-C wants to replace the dissenting deans and chairpersons with people of his choice.
