JNU issues show-cause notices to 48 professors

The JNU administration today issued show-cause notices to 48 teachers for allegedly participating in a day strike on July 31 against the policies implemented by the vice chancellor, said a varsity professor.

The decision was finalised at the Executive Council meeting of the varsity held today, claimed JNU Professor Ayesha Kidwai.

"The notices issued say that the act of a peaceful strike is in contravention of the statutes, rules and regulations of the university. We are extremely disturbed by the manner in which a democratic act of protest is being treated as an act of indiscipline and illegality," Kidwai said.

On July 31, teachers carried placards and wore black badges to express their resistance to the policy decisions of the vice chancellor.

Meanwhile a statement from the varsity said that the Executive Council (EC) today proposed to name the School of Management and Entrepreneurship as Atal Bihari Vajpayee School of Management and Entrepreneurship to pay tribute to the former Prime Minister who passed away on August 16.

The EC also decided to introduce attendance for all regular faculty members, which was approved by the Academic Council last month,the statement said.

The provision of introducing biometric attendance for teachers has been condemned by members of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers' Association.

The EC has also decided for funding from Higher Education Funding Agency (HEFA) under HRD Ministry's New funding scheme for creating state-of-the-art research infrastructure, additional hostel accommodation and student facilities, said the varsity.