Emeritus prof. row: JNU claims bid to defame it

We are following rules framed by executive council: Registrar

A view of an administrative building at the Jawaharlal Nehru University. File photo.

The Jawaharlal Nehru University administration on Wednesday said that there were several opinions being circulated on the issue of professor emeritus position, attempting to defame administrative reforms and application of rules.

It said that the rules were based on statutes and ordinances of the university that were passed last year by the Executive Council.

JNU Registrar Pramod Kumar alleged that a “motivated campaign” has been launched using the name of one emeritus professor primarily to find fault with a new rule that was made part of the Academic Rules and Regulations of the University much earlier. “The new rule was implemented by the highest statutory body of the university, consisting of Deans, Chairpersons, and renowned academicians from outside JNU, to regulate the process of appointments and continuation of the positions of emeritus professor in the university. The goal was to make the process broad-based, time-bound and rule-based selection,” the Registrar said.

Mr. Kumar added that the university would like to reiterate that no single emeritus professor has been targeted, as has been falsely alleged, and that it has only sought to implement a rule that is part of the university’s ordinance.

A skewed ratio

Providing details, the university said that there are currently, 21 emeritus professors in JNU, 17 from social sciences and humanities and four from sciences which was a skewed ratio.

“Many eminent faculty members who could have positively guided upcoming researchers in many fields have missed out in the past from being appointed as an emeritus professor and the objective was to set up an age limit and make the selection broad-based, so that justice is given to the deserving retired faculty members,” the Registrar said.

The university said that it was under these new rules that emeritus professors who have attained the age of 75 were requested to submit their contributions to the university in the last few years, so that a committee set up for reviewing the position could look into it. “Since everyone is equal before law, letters were sent to all 12 emeritus professors who have attained the age of 75 to know their availability and willingness to participate in the academic activities of the university,” the Registrar said.

He added that a committee was set up to analyse the current status of this position and recommend suitable steps for consideration by the Council of the university. The council, Mr. Kumar said deliberated upon it and approved the committee’s recommendations and turned it into an ordinance on August 23, 2108.