JNU Executive Council to Decide If Teachers Need Association Office, Teachers Slam the Move

Jawaharlal Nehru University’s Executive Council, slated to meet at February 18, is mulling a recommendation by the administration if the teachers’ association of the university need any office in the campus. The teachers allege that the administration’s recommendation is reflection of the impunity with which Vice Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar is violating the statues and rules of the university.

The notice sent to the members by the Executive Council, accessed by NewsClick, read,
“Item No. 6.8/EC/18.02.2020 To consider the recommendations of the committee constituted by the Vice Chancellor to look into issue of JNUTA charging/ rent booking fee of Faculty Club Hall… If JNUTA is not following legal requirements, then EC should decide whether all facilities like office space and the collection of the membership fee etc provided to JNUTA should be withdrawn or continued.”

Commenting on the development, Sachidanand Sinha, member of the Executive Council, said that the recommendation is against the constitutional rights of forming an association and the right to assembly. He said, “The association was given an office soon after the university began functioning. Like us, other bodies like students’ union, staff union and officers’ association, too, were given the offices in the campus. Now, under the pretext of an imaginative case, they wish to drive teachers out of this office.”

He added, “It is interesting to note that the university, through various legislations, is bound to provide facilities like crèche to its women employees. Instead, the association is running the crèche for the staff and other people as well who cannot afford this facility… So, the administration, owing to its vendetta, wishes to deprive the staff of facilities like crèche.”

Prof Avinash Kumar, former Secretary of JNU Teachers’ Association (JNUTA), said that the VC's action is completely contradictory. He said, “On the one hand, the Ministry of Human Resources Development has called JNUTA for negotiations. On the other hand, VC wishes to delegitimise the association.”

The body in its statement said, “The VC who himself has absolutely no moral authority to be in the office is mounting an open and direct assault on the JNUTA and the constitutionally guaranteed fundamental right to association that is its basis. Using a completely imaginary case of impropriety as a pretext, the JNU Administration had earlier deprived the entire faculty of the use of the dining hall at the Faculty Centre. The complex also houses the JNUTA office, the Faculty Club and where a crèche also functions. It, however, did not bother to explain why the JNUTA was having to bear a substantial burden of expenditure (now over Rs. 35,000 per month) for the running of the crèche, when the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 makes it the University’s legal obligation to provide for a functioning crèche. Now, the VC is asking the 284th Meeting of the Executive Council scheduled for 18th February 2020 to consider a proposal to withdraw from the JNUTA facilities like office space and collection of membership fees, etc.”

It added, “This is a naked attempt to de facto ban the JNUTA, and therefore an assault on the right to form associations or union, which is part of the fundamental right to freedom in the Indian constitution.”

The body also expressed its displeasure at apathy of the university in investigating the attacks on January 5. It said, “40 days have passed since the horrific violence that shocked the entire nation and the world was inflicted on JNU. Given the obvious complicity of the Administration led by the VC in the unleashing of what has been a traumatic experience for the University, an immediate removal of the VC was always the necessary condition for any impartial investigation into the incidents and to restore a sense of confidence in the University community…The consequence has been that the JNU Administration has continued to behave and act as if nothing really happened on the 5th of January. Indeed, the committee constituted to conduct a sham inquiry hasn’t even bothered to pretend that it is doing its work.”