JNU admin condemns section of faculty members for spreading 'falsehood'

The Jawaharlal Nehru University administration on Tuesday condemned a small section of faculty members for spreading "downright falsehood and malicious propaganda" about the 157th Academic Council Meeting held on March 22.

The JNU Teachers' Association (JNUTA) on Monday had alleged that vice chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar "allowed only some select members to speak", while "denying certain members of the academic council, including former deans and chairpersons, their right to table their opinion even once, despite consistent raising of hands during the course of the two-and-a-half hour long meeting".

In a statement released by JNU registrar Anirban Chakraborti, the administration said that the academic council meeting was held in a "very cordial and positive atmosphere with an attendance exceeding 100 members".

"These faculty members seem to be only interested in damaging the reputation and public image of JNU by spreading trumpet up stories about the conduct of the academic council meeting and decisions taken in it.

"During the two-and-a half hours of the meeting, a large number of council members from assistant professors to senior professors and deans of schools, participated in the council deliberations in a very democratic and enthusiastic manner, and arrived at the decisions," it said.

Among the decisions taken during the meeting, the academic council resolved to conduct the JNU entrance examination 2020-2021 in collaboration with the National Testing Agency (NTA).

It said that the varsity will admit students through the Central Universities Common Entrance Test (CUCET) whenever the NTA decides to conduct it for all the central universities.

The academic council also decided to start a new MA programme in Hindi translation in the Centre of Indian Languages, School of Language, Literature and Culture Studies.

The council also approved granting of recognition to Arun Jaitley National Institute of Financial and Management (AJNIFM), Faridabad, Haryana, to award PG Diploma in Management (Finance) and PG Diploma Management (Financial Management).

The administration also criticised the JNUTA for referring to Kumar as the "caretaker vice chancellor" and said that according to the JNU Act and its statutes, there is no nomenclature as "caretaker VC", "officiating VC", and "interim administrator".

"The statute 3(4) of JNU very clear states that 'provided that the vice-chancellor shall, notwithstanding the expiration of his term, continue to hold his office until his successor is appointed and enters upon his office'. The order issued by the Ministry of Education based on the statute 34 of the JNU Act 1966 does not mention any nomenclature other than the incumbent vice-chancellor," the administration said.

Kumar was allowed to continue in the office, beyond the expiry of his term on January 26, till a successor is appointed, according to education ministry officials.