Teachers, students and non-teaching staff affiliated with the RSS met the Jadavpur University vice-chancellor on Wednesday and raised questions over the election of teachers’ representatives to the executive council, as well as the extension of the tenures of the acting registrar and finance officer.
This is the first time the three RSS-affiliated wings at JU jointly launched a movement and sought answers from VC Chiranjib Bhattacharjee about alleged irregularities in the appointments of deans, faculty secretaries and the placement officer.
The groups sought an explanation for conducting candidate interviews at a time when the model code of conduct was in force ahead of the Bengal elections and also questioned the election of teachers’ representatives to the university’s executive council, the highest decision-making body.
“We want the election of teacher representatives to be revoked. When the university does not have an amended statute, why was the election held?” said Buddhadeb Sau, a former VC and a member of the association.
“If the VC does take any action against these anomalies, we will soon approach the new higher education minister and governor, the ex officio chancellor of JU,” Sau said.
The governor is the ex officio chancellor of all the state-aided universities, including JU.
Bhattacharjee said: “The association made their representation on certain issues. But I will not comment on these issues at this moment.”
Partha Pratim Ray, president of the Left-backed JU Teachers’ Association, refuted the allegations.
“Be it the appointment of the officials or the election of teachers’ representatives to the executive council, everything has been done according to rules,” said Ray, one of the teacher representatives on the council. “The officials had to be appointed because the posts had remained vacant for years.”
The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), often linked to the RSS, told the VC to bring the Salt Lake campus under “comprehensive CCTV” surveillance for the safety and security of students, teachers and others.
Nikhil Das, unit president of ABVP at JU, said they also sought renovation of the hostel on the Salt Lake campus.
The VC said: “The number of CCTV cameras on the Salt Lake campus is much less compared to the Jadavpur campus. Lack of funds is the reason. If we get funds, more cameras will be installed in Salt Lake.”
The RSS-affiliated Paschimbanga Visvavidyalaya Karmachari Sangh alleged that the tenures of JU’s acting registrar and finance officer were extended beyond the permissible six months. The VC declined to comment.