Those teachers defying rules of university, UGC being denied leave: JNU Registrar

The Jawaharlal Nehru University on Sunday said leaves are not being granted to "only those faculty members who are defying the rules of the varsity and that of the UGC", after a number of teachers alleged that they were denied leave for not marking their own attendance.

The JNU executive council, in its meeting in August, had decided that university teachers need to mark their attendance.

The varsity cited the UGC Regulations on Minimum Qualifications for appointment of teachers and other academic staff in universities and colleges and Measures for the Maintenance of Standards In Higher Education, 2018, adopted by the statutory body of JNU.

"The workload of teachers in full employment should not be less than 40 hours a week for 30 working weeks (180 teaching days) in an academic year. It should be necessary for the teacher to be available for at least five hours daily in the University/College," the UGC regulation states.

All deans, chairpersons of special centres and other centres were informed of this decision through a circular on August 28.

"In addition, as decided by the statutory bodies of the university, the faculty members are also required to take the attendance of the students in their respective classes and send details to the university through their chairpersons/deans," the varsity said, adding there is no stay in any court on taking the attendance of students by the teachers in JNU.

The Jawaharlal Nehru University has close to 600 faculty members.

A majority of the faculty members are regularly marking their attendance in their respective Centres and schools, the university said.

The JNU Executive Council, in its meeting on November 20, noted "with serious concern that some faculty members are refusing to adhere to the attendance rules for the teachers of JNU and are refusing to take the student attendance in their classes".

The executive council decided that appropriate action should be taken against the faculty members who are not abiding by the university rule of marking their attendance, JNU Registrar Pramod Kumar said.

Following the decisions taken by the statutory bodies of the university, JNU administration is seeking information from all faculty members applying for leave regarding their adherence to the attendance rule, he said.

"Leaves are not being granted to only those few faculty members who are defying the rules of JNU as well as of the UGC," Kumar added.