JU Teachers' Body Calls Protest Rally to Demand Appointment of Permanent VC

The Jadavpur University Teachers Association (JUTA) has announced a protest rally scheduled to take place on June 21 at the campus. Their primary demand is the swift appointment of a permanent Vice-Chancellor for the university. In a statement, JUTA's general secretary, Partha Pratim Roy, stated that the teachers from this esteemed educational institution will gather in front of the administrative building to express their strong desire for the appointment of a permanent vice chancellor. It is worth noting that the previous Vice-Chancellor of Jadavpur University, Suranjan Das, concluded his term on May 31. JUTA serves as the largest representative body for teachers at JU.

On June 1, Governor C V Ananda Bose, who is also the Chancellor of state universities, appointed interim Vice-Chancellors for 14 state universities where the terms of the previous appointees had expired in May. However, the West Bengal Education Minister, Bratya Basu, deemed these appointments by Raj Bhavan as "legally not valid" and urged the Vice-Chancellors not to assume their new roles. Subsequently, on June 12, the state government declared that all 14 Vice-Chancellors appointed by the Governor would continue to receive their salaries based on their previous positions as professors, rather than their new assignments as interim VCs. This decision was made as the higher education department had not authorized the governor's appointments. In the case of Jadavpur University, Professor Amitabha Datta was appointed as the interim VC by the governor after the tenure of Suranjan Das, who had led the university since 2015, came to an end. Due to Datta's prior position as the pro-VC of the university, the conflict between the higher education department and the governor did not appear to hinder his duties, and he has been fulfilling his responsibilities, according to a university source.

"Our protest is against the detrimental conflict between the government and the chancellor, which is an affront to teachers. During the rally on June 21, we will demand the restoration of respect and honor for the teaching community," stated Roy. Additionally, JUTA has called for the appointment of a permanent nominee of the chancellor in JU to improve coordination between the university and address matters related to recruitment, promotion, and the inclusion of elected university representatives in the Search Committee for VC.