University admin reluctant to engage in dialogue, says JNUTA

The Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers’ Association (JNUTA), after a General Body Meeting held recently, has said that there is a deliberate attempt by the JNU administration to divide the teachers by side-lining the duly elected body representing the teachers.

The association has been elected by over 92% of the teachers, they said.

The JNUTA said that the administration is reluctant to engage in dialogue with the association over the critical situation prevailing on campus but is “quick to release press statements blaming the JNUTA for the situation on campus”.

“JNUTA contests this false representation by the Registrar, which indicates that the administration does not even acknowledge that there are serious concerns of major stakeholders of the university that need to be discussed,” the JNUTA said.

Many violations

The teachers added that the record needs to be set straight and that the unprecedented state of unrest on campus is a result of the forced implementation of arbitrarily-taken decisions by the administration.

“In the past two years, the campus has seen violations of social justice, gender justice and natural justice; and continuous farmaans being imposed by the ‘top administration’. The relentless call for justice has been met with deafening silence on part of the administration, which appears to be in complete denial of the ground reality,” the teachers said.

“The Vice-Chancellor by being impervious to the developments on campus and the widespread distress that has been made evident through peaceful protest has aggravated the situation and has also compelled the seeking of remedies from responsible bodies outside the university,” the JNUTA added.

The association appealed to the administration to shed its reluctance to allow a return to a normal teaching-learning environment by reinstating an open process of dialogue. “Refusal to recognise these concerns as real is what has resulted in this unfortunate situation,” it added.