The issue of seat cuts in M.Phil and Ph.D course at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) came up for discussion in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, with Congress member Rajeev Gowda saying that JNU as a top university should be exempted from these rules.
Sitaram Yechury of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) also sought to know whether this was not an infringement of the institution’s autonomy.
Relaxation sought
“JNU is continuously ranked as one of the best universities in the country. Strict numbers for Ph.D research guidance, for Masters’ guidance, etc., should be relaxed in their case because the people there are outstanding enough to be able to guide many more students than in standard universities,” Mr. Gowda said.
Disagreeing with Mr. Gowda, Union Minister of Human Resource Development Prakash Javadekar said it wasn’t possible to guide as many students as some JNU professors had been doing. He added that the University Grants Commission (UGC) was just following a global practice by limiting the number of students a professor can guide.
‘I disagree’
Stating that one retired professor of JNU was guiding 44 students and 19 professors had between 20 and 30 research students each, Mr. Javadekar said: “I was surprised that Prof. Rajeev Gowda, who has taught in the best institutions of the world, is saying that one professor can guide 40 students. I don’t agree with him.”
In reply to a question, Mr. Javadekar detailed issues on which JNU students had protested, both campus-specific and others, like “harassment allegations in West Bengal”, “against the demolition of Babri Masjid”, “judgment in the Nirbhaya case” and “opposition to former United States President Barack Obama’s India visit”.
Controversial slogans
Mr. Yechury objected to the reply, including the controversial slogans allegedly raised on the campus last year, saying the government shouldn’t reproduce from tapes that were doctored. He also said that JNU was known to be one of the highest producers of IAS, IPS and IFS officers.
Mr. Javadekar said JNU was one of the best institutions for things that were seldom discussed.
“Actually it’s the best university. What have they achieved? Let me place it on record. They have come out with an anti-malaria vaccine, but that wasn’t reported. DNA replication for better diagnosis of diseases and that has been patented in the U.S. also. So, that has been done by JNU. Then there is cheap diagnostic tool for tuberculosis and vaccine for anthrax....So, they are being ranked as the best institution. They are adjudged as the best university because of these works. But they never get publicity....”
