JNU teachers’ union questions VC over registrar appointment 

NEW DELHI:  A fresh controversy has erupted in the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) over the appointment of new registrar. The JNU Teachers Association (JNUTA) called the appointment made by Vice Chancellor (VC) M Jagadesh Kumar as illegal and said the “caretaker VC” does not have rights and powers to take any policy decision as his tenure is over. 

JNUTA released a statement after the newly-appointed Registrar Anirban Chakraborti issued a statement against the term “care taker VC” used by a section of JNU teachers. The JNU administration’s statement charged a section of the faculty with spreading “false and malicious propaganda” about the varsity and stated that there was no nomenclature as ‘caretaker VC’, ‘officiating VC’ or ‘Interim Administrator’. 

Replying to the registrar, the JNUTA said, “Professor Jagadesh Kumar, it was reported, does not like the adjective ‘caretaker’ that the JNUTA has been using to describe his current status within the university.”
JNUTA said the new registrar was appointed on March 17, 2021. The university was informed about the appointment of new registrar through an order which said the decision had the “approval of competent authority”.

However, questioning the appointment of registrar, the JNUTA said, “Who is this competent authority in this case. Statute 8(1) of university rules categorically states that ‘the registrar shall be appointed by the executive council’ and ‘shall be a whole-time salaried officer of the university’.”  “It may be noted that there has been no meeting where the executive council was deliberated on the matter or approval for the decision.

The newly appointed registrar’s backdoor entry into the executive council by a fiat issued by the VC therefore is not just suspect but also illegal,” read the statement from JNUTA.  It also said that for the first time in the history of JNU, the registrar has been recorded by the university as being a member of the executive council, which is against the statutes.