The RSS-affiliated teachers’ association, Akhil Bharatiya Rashtriya Shaikshik Mahasangh (ABRSM), reaffirmed its presence on the Jadavpur University campus on Friday, five days after the BJP came to power in Bengal.
The teachers’ group met vice-chancellor Chiranjib Bhattacharjee and told him that the university administration must engage with them, just as it does with other bodies such as the Left-backed Jadavpur University Teachers’ Association (JUTA), before taking any important decisions.
The unit also told the VC that he must take "strong steps" against anyone found violating discipline on the campus.
The ABRSM (higher education, JU) was constituted in 2016, but it never asserted its presence. The 30-odd members of the association mostly remained invisible.
VC Bhattacharjee said the ABRSM delegation met him as a "courtesy visit".
Mathematics professor Buddhadeb Sau, who was appointed as authorised VC by then governor C.V. Ananda Bose in July 2023, was among the pro-RSS teachers interacting with Bhattacharjee on Friday.
"We told the VC that if anybody dares to break discipline, strict action has to be taken," Sau told Metro.
Sau, who helmed JU from July 2023 to April 2024, encountered several instances of student unrest. The JU VC's office came under CCTV surveillance during his tenure.
These CCTV cameras had been disabled by former VC Suranjan Das in 2015 following students’ protests.
A member of the ABRSM said they want a police outpost on the campus.
After the state education minister was heckled by students on the campus in March 2025, the police had sought a "suitable area" measuring around 4,000 square feet near JU’s gate No. 4 for a camp.
The then police commissioner, Manoj Kumar Verma, had said the letter was sent to execute a 2014 Calcutta High Court order.
A professor on Friday said the university must work on the police proposal. "This is a must to raise the security on the campus. Last year, a student died by drowning in a water body on the campus. Two teachers were beaten up in March this year as they tried to stop a fight among students."
JU has traditionally been disinclined to police presence on the campus.
In December 2025, the university informed the high court about its opposition to a police outpost on campus.
Another teacher said they also wanted JU authorities to revise the fee structure because "low fee is one of the reasons" behind the funds crunch that JU is encountering.
The monthly tuition fees in the arts, science and engineering faculties are now ₹75, 150 and 200, respectively. The monthly hostel fee is ₹25.
The then JU finance officer, Gour Krishna Pattanayak, had written in September 2022 that JU's fees were the "lowest in the country".
"The monthly fee should range between ₹1,500 and ₹2,000 in engineering," a pro-RSS teacher said.