Standard Deviation
A faculty spat over quotas subtracts from JNU's inclusive ethos
Anuradha Raman
"Some castes are genetically malnourished and so very little can be
achieved in raising them up; and if they are, it would be undoing
excellence and merit."
—Prof B.N. Mallick, Dept of Life Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru
University, at the March 31 academic council meeting on reservations
in the faculty
This learned professor would have continued to offer his warped
genetic theories had his comment not been greeted with protests from
other JNU academicians. Prof Kamal A. Mitra Chenoy of the School of
International Studies requested him to pipe down. Other academicians
persuaded vice-chancellor B.B. Bhattacharya, who was presiding over
the meeting, to stop Mallick from speaking.
"It was an unsavoury, sordid meeting of the JNU executive council. It
should have been stewarded better."Rohan D'Souza, Asst professor
Clearly, there is much heartburn, fissure, and even open defiance in
the faculty over the constitutional provision mandating 22.5 per cent
reservation at the professor and associate professor level for the
scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and the physically handicapped. In
fact, the pro- and anti-quota lobbies have been fighting it out since
the university placed an advertisement in November last year for 149
faculty positions with 22.5 per cent reservation. If events of the
last two months are anything to go by, many at this university, which
has set high standards for debates on inclusiveness and justice, seem
to have abandoned the moral high ground.
At the heart of the debate is the vice- chancellor. Some faculty
members say he has failed in his responsibility of setting a personal
example. "Unfortunately, he is not able to communicate his sentiments
or ideas on the issue effectively," says Rohan D'Souza, an assistant
professor at JNU's Centre for Studies in Science Policy. Of faculty
members who were worried the events would reach the media, D'Souza
says, "We had to remind them this is not a police station. Even
cabinet notes make news. We are an educational institution. The public
must know."
"The academic council could discuss anything —even climate change—
but it can't overturn the executive council."P. Sainath, Member,
executive council
Given Bhattacharya's ambivalence on reservation—amply demonstrated,
faculty members say, in two meetings of the academic council and the
last executive council meeting of April 6—many at the university think
his continuance will thwart any effort to introduce reservations in
the faculty. In fact, the meeting of the executive council—the highest
body in the university—was marked by a vicious debate. It was even
decided to refer the matter to the solicitor-general of India,
prompting executive council member P. Sainath to ask why the highest
legal officer of the country should opine on the administrative
matters of a university, especially when the university had submitted
to the Supreme Court in 2008 that it would implement faculty quotas in
two years.
"We have succeeded in setting right the minutes of the previous
executive council meeting, held in March, that sought to give the
impression that the JNU faculty was opposed to quotas and that it
wanted to seek the solicitor-general's opinion," says Prof Daya
Krishna Lobiyal, of the School of Computers & System Sciences. The
truth is that of the 400-odd faculty members, 102 have given in
writing that they support reservation; 33 are opposed to it; the
majority haven't yet expressed their opinion.
"JNU has submitted on affidavit in the SC that it's implementing
reservation. We need seek no other view."Daya Krishan Lobiyal,
Professor, computer sciences
Bhattacharya is abroad and could not be contacted. But that hasn't
prevented students from seeking an April 20 referendum on whether he
should demit office when his term ends.
In a letter to the vice-chancellor, Sainath had expressed concern that
the academic council even discussed the matter of reservations when
the executive council had already decided to implement quotas three
years ago. "The academic council," he wrote, "could discuss what it
wanted—climate change, if it wished—but it has no right to overturn a
decision of the executive council."
The rigmarole of academic and executive council meetings debating
again what an executive council meeting had decided on three years ago
seems like nothing more than a ploy to stall reservations in the
faculty.
"Can anyone be rewarded or punished when the reality today is
different than what was there in the past?"B.N. Mallick, Professor,
life sciences
So much so, the academic council meeting of March 31, at which the
genetic theory of malnourishment and the futility of trying to raise
certain castes was expounded, went on till well past midnight, while
many of those present pressed for a quick decision. Insiders say the
majority was in favour of reservation, but the decision was termed
"inconclusive", necessitating a legal opinion.
In another tack to the issue, the JNU Teachers Association sought the
opinion of Rajeev Dhawan, a constitutional expert and senior advocate
at the Supreme Court. In his 14-page note to the association, Dhawan
has said the University Grants Commission's (UGC) guidelines on
reservation, as directed by the Centre, are mandatory, even if they
are described as recommendations; in any event, they require strict,
if not substantial, compliance. Failure to comply, he has said, could
jeopardise the grants JNU receives from the UGC.
As for the guidelines, they are very clear: "Reservation is applicable
to all teaching posts, such as the posts of lecturers, readers,
professors, or, by whatever nomenclature the posts are known...." The
association could well have done without consulting lawyers.
"The Centre has given directions to the UGC and the UGC has passed it
to the universities—they are mandatory."Rajeev Dhawan, Advocate,
Supreme Court
While the battle over reservations rages, another development had led
to sharp exchanges between executive council members who met on April
6. This was over what some teachers thought were "desperate attempts"
by the vice-chancellor to seek a second term through an hrd ministry
directive that does not bar a vice-chancellor from seeking a second
term. The JNU statute, however, prohibits a second term. There was an
attempt to have the statute amended. That the vice-chancellor presided
over that discussion has raised eyebrows.
"I think if the next meeting and discussions on this matter are to
have any authenticity, any executive council member standing to gain
from such an amendment must recuse himself from the meeting," says an
executive council member. "This is no special measure, just a normal
ethical practice. Otherwise, the discussion would lack legitimacy and
propriety."
Many academicians say that all they can do is openly lament about the
plummeting ethics and standards in this once prestigious university.
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