A wing of Jadavpur University has recommended that an assistant professor who has been accused of attacking a PhD student because of her caste should remain suspended till an inquiry into the allegation is over, sources on the campus said.
The SC/ST/OBC cell of JU sent the recommendation to acting vice-chancellor Chiranjeeb Bhattacharya after a meeting on Monday, the sources said.
The assistant professor, in the international relations department, is also accused of not accepting a visually challenged student from the Scheduled Caste category in an MPhil programme under her guidance.
The cell took cognisance of both allegations while deciding on the recommendation, a university source said.
“The SC/ST/OBC cell unanimously resolved that it would be prudent to suspend the accused, pending the completion of a full-fledged inquiry into the allegations. The recommendation has been sent to the acting vice-chancellor so that the authorities can take a decision,” said the source.
Vice-chancellor Suranjan Das is outside the state and pro-VC Bhattacharya is at the helm of affairs. Repeated calls and messages from this newspaper to Bhattacharya failed to elicit any response.
A week ago, Iman Kalyan Lahiri, head of the international relations department, had written to the VC that the assistant professor’s “response” to the allegation of the attack on the PhD scholar because of her caste “is a complete suppression of facts”.
“The response given by the teacher is necessarily factually wrong because she used certain words like ‘quota’ in the presence of the PRC (PhD research committee) members and again used certain words, not constitutionally accepted,” Lahiri’s letter said.
The JU authorities had sought an explanation from the assistant professor on both allegations.
The board of studies of the international relations department had earlier convened a meeting where members had in a resolution sought action against the accused under the Scheduled Castes a n d Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
The board had also sought “necessary steps” against the teacher for violating the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act.
Rail meeting
A meeting between Indian and Bangladesh railway officials was held at the Fairlie Place headquarters of Eastern Railway on Monday. “The transfer of 20 broad-gauge diesel locomotives from India to Bangladesh was discussed in the meeting,” said a railway spokesperson.
