Members of the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Rashtriya Shaikshik Mahasangh (ABRSM) at Jadavpur University on Monday said they would approach the state education department and the Bengal governor over alleged irregularities in the appointment of deans, faculty secretaries and the placement officer.
The teachers said they had raised the issue with the university’s vice-chancellor, Chiranjib Bhattacharjee, during a meeting in mid-May and had sought his response to the allegations.
“After obtaining legal opinion, the vice-chancellor informed us that he would not comment on the matter. We have therefore decided to take up the issue with the state government and the governor, who is the ex officio chancellor of state-aided universities,” said Buddhadeb Sau, a former JU vice-chancellor and a spokesperson for the organisation’s university unit.
The association also questioned why interviews to shortlist candidates for the posts were conducted when the model code of conduct was in force in the state.
Sau alleged that some of the appointments were made after the BJP government assumed office and claimed that the university had not consulted the state government before proceeding with them.
“The new government has been voted to power with an overwhelming mandate. In this changed scenario, recruitment, promotion and election of teachers — everything must be reviewed by the government and the governor, who is our chancellor,” said Sau.
“We will inform the state government and the chancellor that the university is acting unilaterally,” he added.
Vice-chancellor Bhattacharjee said the representatives demanded his personal response on certain issues. “I do not have a personal opinion. The decision on appointment and conducting interviews was taken collectively by the university’s executive council, the university’s highest decision-making body,” Bhattacharjee said.
“If they want to approach the state government and the chancellor, they are free to do so,” he added.
The RSS-affiliated teachers’ group met the vice-chancellor on May 9, days after the BJP stormed to power in the state.
In that meeting, the group demanded 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 crucial decision.
Sau, who was appointed authorised vice-chancellor by then-governor C. V. Ananda Bose in July 2023 amid allegations that the education department had not been consulted, said the association would also take up the issue of the election of teachers’ representatives to the executive council with the governor and the state education department.
“The elections were held without following the norms,” Sau alleged.
Many members of the Left-backed Jadavpur University Teachers’ Association (JUTA) were elected to the executive council.
“We have heard that the tenure of the acting registrar, Selim Box Mandal, has been extended till the end of November. The university cannot take such a decision on its own. We will take it up with the government and the chancellor,” said Sau.
JUTA general secretary Parthapratim Roy said: “The tenure of the acting registrar had to be extended because a permanent registrar had not been appointed. The full-term registrar could not be appointed because the university did not get the chancellor’s nominees for months. The election of the teachers to the executive council was done following university rules.”
“A case was filed in Calcutta High Court, challenging the elections, but the court did not grant a stay,” said Roy, an executive council member.