Latest news with #SantishreeDhulipudiPandit
The Wire
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Wire
A University That Punishes Dissent
The following is an open letter to JNU vice chancellor Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit (and if he cares to read it, ex-vice chancellor M. Jagadesh Kumar). § Dear Professor Pandit, After an agonising wait of five years for my gratuity illegally withheld by the JNU administration, the Hon'ble Delhi high court has ordered JNU to pay the amount with interest of 6%. Previous to this, I had approached the same court for the recovery of my leave encashment dues, which were also illegally withheld by JNU. The court then (2022) awarded 9% interest. It is more than evident that JNU has acted illegally in withholding my dues (and those of other retired faculty). At the time of my retirement in January 2020, I received no written explanation for the same, despite many written and oral requests to the then-registrar Pramod Kumar. Finally, I was sent a letter on March 17, 2020, saying that I was refused leave encashment and gratuity pending an enquiry into misconduct (which incidentally had been stayed by the Hon'ble Delhi high court). The previous communication I received was on July 24, 2019, when I was informed that under Rule 14 of the Central Civil Service (Classification, Control and Appeal) (CCS/CCA) Rules, 1965, I would be subjected to an enquiry for 'misconduct'. The charge was violating Rule 7 of the CCS/CCA rules. The enquiry was purportedly about a silent and peaceful march on July 31, 2018 taken out by about 200 JNU faculty around the campus, for about half an hour, without disrupting any academic or administrative duties. Less than 50 of us were singled out for the show cause, and later, chargesheet. I referred to the service contract which I had signed when I joined JNU in September 2009. It speaks nowhere of CCS/CCA rules. It only says that I agree to 'Statutes, Ordinances, Regulation and rules for the time being in force in the University…' Since the matter regarding the applicability of CCS/CCA rules to JNU faculty is still pending, let me acquaint you with a brief history of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers' Association (JNUTA)'s struggle which began in February 2016, when Prof Mamidala Jagadesh Kumar had just been appointed as VC of JNU. This was no coincidence. The JNUTA had decided, through a democratic and consultative process, following the turbulence on the campus, and the arrest of some of our students under Section 124a of the IPC, that it would oppose the attempts of the administration to challenge and alter the long-established traditions of debate, dialogue and discussion, including dissent, and norms and practices that recognised seniority in administrative duties. It planned to do this in a number of peaceful and constructive ways. Also read | Chargesheets, Denied Pension, Leaves: JNU's Punitive Measures Against Dissenting Faculty One of these was a month-long series of lectures on nationalism which was held at the steps of the administration in February and March 2016. The events were extremely well-attended, live- streamed and eventually became a book entitled What the Nation Really Needs to Know. Both the YouTube lectures and the book have received widespread attention and use; the book has sold well over 10,000 copies in addition to being translated into many different Indian languages. I hasten to point out that this 'Teach In' was in addition to the classroom teaching, research, administrative work, etc which all JNU teachers continued without interruption. It was, in short, well in keeping with JNU faculty's commitment to innovative teaching and learning. The JNUTA organised a series of other creative and educative events in many parts of the campus (following the Delhi high court order forbidding such actions by students within 100 metres of the administration building). These have continued over the years. None of these were disruptive, noisy or at the cost of the teaching/evaluation/administrative responsibilities of teachers. Overall, the then-new JNU administration could not challenge the JNUTA academically or on any intellectual grounds. Its preferred mode was to seek the support of the judiciary, which has also largely failed. The two cases referred to above clearly show that the JNU administration did not have a legal leg to stand on. None of its executive orders have stood legal scrutiny in case after case, whether it is related to the denial of sabbatical leave, denial of pensions or denial of NOCs to those who wished to travel abroad for fellowships. But we have all learned that in 'New India/Naya Bharat', the process is the punishment, even when there is no wrongdoing. The university soon received adverse publicity nationwide, and there was severe erosion of its carefully built-up academic reputation, which the JNU administration did nothing to rectify. Instead, teachers were maligned in multiple ways for opposing the rapid changes to long-established norms in the university. For instance, chairpersons were appointed, no longer on the basis of seniority, which was the well-established norm, but in arbitrary fashion. Centre for Historical Studies faculty attempted in 2017 to persuade the newly appointed chair, who had superseded many other senior faculty (in direct violation of long-accepted norms) against accepting the responsibility. We failed. (Later, that out-of-turn appointment was reversed by the Hon'ble high court). Instead, as punishment, 12 or 13 of us were asked to appear before an enquiry committee at the Equal Opportunity Office in JNU in 2017/2018, ostensibly for having been discriminatory towards the chair. To date, the report of this committee and its findings have not been made public or shared with all those who repeatedly appeared before the committee, and also submitted explanations in writing. Clearly, there was nothing at all to substantiate these charges. The only goal was harassment. Such mental and psychic harassment continued on many fronts even as the 'dilution' of, and assault on, JNU's original mandate and formidable reputation as an institution of higher learning continued. The academic standing of this premier institution in social sciences and humanities, international relations, languages, and life and physical sciences was undermined in multiple ways. Despite all data indicating a steep fall in enrollments in engineering studies nationwide, Prof Jagadesh Kumar began an undergraduate engineering programme with neither faculty nor buildings. Likewise, a Management Studies Centre was established, once more without teachers and buildings, and student enrolments begun. Both of these efforts basically encashed JNU's carefully built-up brand value in social sciences and the humanities, while undermining it as an institution of higher learning. Finally, on January 5, 2020, having failed to academically or legally dent the formidable spirit of the JNU teaching and learning community, a physical attack, using an unruly armed brigade of 150 storm troopers, was launched on the JNU campus, at which many students and faculty were injured. Although CCTV cameras revealed the identity of the attackers, they were allowed to leave unscathed. To this day, five years later, neither the JNU administration nor the Delhi police have submitted their reports on what happened on that fateful day. We were hopeful that a new vice chancellor, and especially one who has had the privilege of studying in JNU, such as yourself, would restore the intellectual ethos, ethical values and uniquely forged civility that had been systematically undermined under Prof Jagadesh Kumar. You have gone on public record several times praising the achievements of this university. But, alas, you have not lived up to these expectations, and the dismantling of the institution has continued apace, as you have remained steadfastly loyal to your political masters. Also read: Political Intolerance and Declining Academic Freedom in India Prof Pandit, let me conclude with a few personal details. When I retired in January 2020, there was no one to teach the compulsory Capitalism and Colonialism course which I had co-taught with pleasure for a decade. I agreed, in February 2020, to deliver the lectures for the first half of this course. For this, I never asked for, nor was given, any remuneration (and not even a cup of tea was forthcoming from the then-chair of the department!) Thereafter, five of my PhD students remained in my supervision and in continuous touch, and I saw them through their doctoral degrees until their vivas were held (the last was in 2023). In other words, in the best spirit of an earlier JNU ethos, I did not abandon my students even when the institution I had loyally served was abandoning me. The harassment of currently employed faculty who were issued the chargesheet continues, in the form of promotions denied, and the denial of administrative responsibility, withholding permission for leave, etc. Here, again, the JNU administration is bound to lose legally, but the long-drawn-out process is itself the punishment. I have concluded, given the steadfast adherence to illegality by your administration and the previous one, that such recklessness arises from a complete lack of accountability on your part. It is, after all, the taxpayer's money that has to compensate the JNU teachers, such as myself, who were denied their retirement rights in time. I am painfully reminded of the senseless and illiterate noise regarding JNU students and their 'exploitation' of the low fee structure that was aggressively generated after 2016, in articles, WhatsApp messages and TV channels alike. The JNU administration did nothing to counter such relentless calumny. Where are those guardians of taxpayers' money now when lakhs of rupees are being paid out by JNU/the state, for interest on dues which should have been paid a long time ago and for lawyers' fees? Why have those who so long and loudly demanded 'accountability' from students now fallen silent about lakhs of rupees spent on cases which were a tactic to delay, not win? I am suggesting, Prof Pandit, that it will set a very good example and high standard for institutional and personal ethics, if you and Prof Jagadesh Kumar put your money where your mouth is. You should jointly agree to compensate the University – and the Indian state, and the beleaguered tax payer – for the lakhs of rupees in interest that have been paid to each of us for these illegally delayed retirement dues and lawyers' fees on both sides. That will usher in the 'Naya Bharat' that we so desperately need. Janaki NairProfessor of History (retd)JNU Janaki Nair taught at the Centre for Historical Studies, JNU. The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.
Economic Times
6 days ago
- Business
- Economic Times
From new rooms to smart classrooms: JNU's management, engineering await big upgrades
For the first time since their launch in 2018, Jawaharlal Nehru University's engineering and management schools will soon have their own academic buildings and hostels, reported TOI. As part of a ₹483.66 crore infrastructure overhaul under the Higher Education Funding Agency (HEFA) scheme, the university will construct a modern academic block and two purpose-built hostels for the School of Engineering and the Atal Bihari Vajpayee School of Management and Entrepreneurship. Modern academic hub for technology and business According to the report, the upcoming ₹142-crore academic centre will span 29,000 square metres and include advanced lecture halls, simulation labs, interdisciplinary collaboration zones, faculty offices, and subject-specific laboratories. The design aims to support both cutting-edge research and applied learning in technology and business studies. These facilities are meant to match the academic demands of programmes that, unlike most JNU courses, charge significantly higher tuition fees. General category students pay ₹12 lakh for the full MBA, while OBC (non-creamy layer) students pay ₹8 lakh and SC/ST/PWD students pay ₹6 lakh—raising long-standing concerns about the mismatch between cost and infrastructure. New hostels with upgraded amenities Students will also get brand new hostels—JNU's first ever built specifically for a single academic programme. Together, they'll accommodate 2,600 students, helping end years of dependency on shared, cross-disciplinary housing. The School of Engineering hostel will cover 34,500 square metres and house 1,950 students at a cost of ₹126.69 crore. It will include furnished rooms, reading lounges, green spaces, and a dining hall, noted the news oulet. The management school hostel, sized at 11,500 square metres and costing ₹42.23 crore, will provide space for 650 students in modular rooms with shared workspaces suited for postgraduate life. Part of a larger push to modernise JNU These upgrades are part of a broader development vision. Under the HEFA scheme, JNU has received clearance for nine major infrastructure projects. TOI further reported these include a trans-disciplinary research and academic block (₹41.24 crore), an advanced animal research centre (₹22.92 crore), a cutting-edge instrumentation facility (₹27.05 crore), a start-up incubation hub (₹17.69 crore), and a 2,000-seat lecture hall complex (₹52.85 crore). 'These projects mark a major milestone for JNU,' said vice-chancellor Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit. 'They reflect our commitment to creating a globally competitive, research-oriented university. As we align with the National Education Policy 2020, we're building a future-ready campus for both students and faculty.'
Time of India
6 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
From new rooms to smart classrooms: JNU's management, engineering await big upgrades
For the first time since their launch in 2018, Jawaharlal Nehru University 's engineering and management schools will soon have their own academic buildings and hostels , reported TOI. As part of a ₹483.66 crore infrastructure overhaul under the Higher Education Funding Agency (HEFA) scheme, the university will construct a modern academic block and two purpose-built hostels for the School of Engineering and the Atal Bihari Vajpayee School of Management and Entrepreneurship. Modern academic hub for technology and business by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Gold Takeover Alert: 3 Stocks to Watch Now Fat Tail Daily Learn More Undo According to the report, the upcoming ₹142-crore academic centre will span 29,000 square metres and include advanced lecture halls , simulation labs, interdisciplinary collaboration zones, faculty offices, and subject-specific laboratories. The design aims to support both cutting-edge research and applied learning in technology and business studies. Live Events These facilities are meant to match the academic demands of programmes that, unlike most JNU courses, charge significantly higher tuition fees. General category students pay ₹12 lakh for the full MBA, while OBC (non-creamy layer) students pay ₹8 lakh and SC/ST/PWD students pay ₹6 lakh—raising long-standing concerns about the mismatch between cost and infrastructure. New hostels with upgraded amenities Students will also get brand new hostels—JNU's first ever built specifically for a single academic programme. Together, they'll accommodate 2,600 students, helping end years of dependency on shared, cross-disciplinary housing. The School of Engineering hostel will cover 34,500 square metres and house 1,950 students at a cost of ₹126.69 crore. It will include furnished rooms, reading lounges, green spaces, and a dining hall, noted the news oulet. The management school hostel, sized at 11,500 square metres and costing ₹42.23 crore, will provide space for 650 students in modular rooms with shared workspaces suited for postgraduate life. Part of a larger push to modernise JNU These upgrades are part of a broader development vision. Under the HEFA scheme, JNU has received clearance for nine major infrastructure projects. TOI further reported these include a trans-disciplinary research and academic block (₹41.24 crore), an advanced animal research centre (₹22.92 crore), a cutting-edge instrumentation facility (₹27.05 crore), a start-up incubation hub (₹17.69 crore), and a 2,000-seat lecture hall complex (₹52.85 crore). 'These projects mark a major milestone for JNU,' said vice-chancellor Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit. 'They reflect our commitment to creating a globally competitive, research-oriented university. As we align with the National Education Policy 2020 , we're building a future-ready campus for both students and faculty.'
Time of India
7 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
JNU's Mgmt & Engineering Students Get Infra Add-On
New Delhi: For the first time since their inception in 2018, students of Jawaharlal Nehru University 's engineering and management schools will have buildings to call their own. As part of a Rs 483.66-crore infrastructure overhaul approved under the Higher Education Funding Agency (HEFA) scheme, JNU is set to construct a new academic block and separate hostels for both schools. The Rs 142-crore academic centre will feature high-tech lecture halls, simulation spaces, faculty rooms, interdisciplinary collaboration zones, and laboratories tailored to the specific needs of technology and business education. The hostels — with a combined capacity of 2,600 students — aim to end years of dependence on shared accommodation by students of the School of Engineering and the Atal Bihari Vajpayee School of Management and Entrepreneurship. This is the first time JNU is building dedicated hostels for any specific academic programme — a rare step in a university where most hostels are shared across disciplines. Even the Barak hostel, originally proposed as an exclusive space for students from the Northeast, was eventually opened to all students. The engineering and management programmes are among the few courses at JNU with comparatively higher tuition fees in a contrast to the low-cost, subsidised education offered in most other disciplines. A section of students and faculty have often pointed to the mismatch between the fee structure and the lack of adequate infrastructure for these schools. According to data available on JNU's website, general-category students are charged Rs 12 lakh for the entire MBA full-time programme, OBC students (Non-Creamy Layer) are charged Rs 8 lakh, and SC/ST/PWD students are charged Rs 6 lakh for the course. The new facilities aim to address that gap. The proposed academic block will span 29,000 sqm and will cater to the needs of both schools. The hostels are also being designed with upgraded amenities. The 34,500-sqm hostel for the School of Engineering will accommodate 1,950 students and include furnished rooms, study lounges, dining halls and green open spaces that will cost Rs 126.69 crore to make. The hostel for the management school — built over 11,500 sqm at a cost of Rs 42.23 crore — will house 650 students and offer modular rooms and common workspaces suited to postgraduate learners. "These projects mark a turning point in JNU's journey," vice-chancellor Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit said. "Our commitment to holistic development is laying the foundation for a globally competitive and research-intensive university." The construction of these buildings is part of a larger infrastructure development plan under HEFA, through which JNU received approval for nine major projects. While the engineering and management school buildings form a significant part of this, the university is also set to build a trans-disciplinary academic and research block (Rs 41.24 crore), an advanced animal research facility (Rs 22.92 crore), an upgraded advanced instrumentation research facility (Rs 27.05 crore), a start-up incubation centre (Rs 17.69 crore), and a new 2,000-seat lecture hall complex (Rs 52.85 crore) to ease the pressure on existing infrastructure. Vice-chancellor Pandit thanked the ministry of education and other university stakeholders for their support, adding that these projects align with the vision of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and will enable JNU to become a "future-ready campus" that empowers students and faculty alike.
Indian Express
05-06-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
Operation Sindoor a declaration, asserts India will punish not only terrorists but systems that nourish them: JNU V-C Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit
The vice-chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Dr Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit, on Thursday said that Operation Sindoor asserts that India will not be 'blackmailed by nuclear threats' and will punish 'not only terrorists but the systems that nourish them'. Pandit was delivering the valedictory address as she presided over the convocation of the College of Military Engineering (CME) in Pune on Thursday morning. Thirty-five officers were conferred degrees under the academic affiliation of the JNU. This included 11 officers from the MTech (Structural Engineering) course and 24 officers from the Technical Entry Scheme (TES) course who received BTech degrees in civil and mechanical engineering. Referring to Operation Sindoor, India's retaliatory response after the Pahalgam terror attack, Pandit said it 'represents the changed doctrine that redefines national goals'. 'India's national security philosophy is no longer one of ambiguity and endurance. It is now of clarity, consequence and retaliation. The Pahalgam attack – barbarically targeted and state-sponsored – was not the first provocation but a final trigger. In response, India launched Operation Sindoor, a calibrated multi-domain retaliation that changed our national security paradigm,' she said. '(Operation) Sindoor was not just a military operation but a declaration. It asserted that India will not absorb terrorism as a cost of geography or diplomacy. It will retaliate. It will define the escalation matrix. And it will punish aggression through strength, not speeches. The significance of Operation Sindoor lies in operational brilliance and strategic symbolism,' she added. Saying that Operation Sindoor was the beginning of a new strategic era, Pandit said, 'It asserts that India will not be blackmailed by nuclear threats. India will retaliate across domains – military, cyber, diplomatic, hydrological. India will punish not only terrorists but the systems that nourish them. India will shape the narrative before it is shaped by others. It is the doctrine you are part of and it is the doctrine you must help sustain, through your preparedness, innovation and unapologetic assertion of our national interest. Deterrence is not a slogan. It is infrastructure, data, logistics and precision – the very things you have been trained for.' The JNU vice-chancellor added, 'In the past, India made some strategic errors. Trusting third parties to resolve internal issues…internationalising domestic concerns…and assuming that restraint would earn respect. No longer. Operation Sindoor decisively rejected any third-party mediation…'. 'You are now a part of a doctrine that no longer allows Pakistan to hide behind non-state actors. You are part of a generation that has rejected the fatalism of strategic restraint and has adopted strategic clarity of national interest. Artificial intelligence and machine learning are no longer civilian luxuries but are military necessities. In the cyber warfare phase of Operation Sindoor, we witnessed a dramatic evolution that, for the first time, cyberspace became an active theatre of conflict. It is not science fiction. It is your battlefield,' Pandit said, addressing the gathering. Addressing the 35 officers, Pandit said, 'Graduating today means stepping out in a world more volatile, complex, and interdependent than ever before. A world where technology disrupts borders, cyberattacks undermine sovereignty and engineered narratives shape geopolitical outcomes. It is a world where the old doctrines of diplomacy have collapsed under the weight of asymmetry, hybrid warfare and proxy battles. But it is a world today where India stands tall, emerging not just as a regional anchor but as a global conscience. The world you enter from here is one beyond engineering and military doctrine, but one where technological mastery is a prerequisite tool for you to preserve the sovereign status of India. You are not merely engineers, you are the architects of India's deterrence.' CME Commandant Lieutenant General A K Ramesh encouraged the graduating officers to remain committed to professional excellence by staying attuned to ongoing innovations and challenges in the engineering domain. Brigadier Ravi Reddy, Officiating Deputy Commandant and Dean, CME, presented the academic report for Spring Term 2025. Lieutenant Colonel Neeraj Parmar was awarded the Gold Medal and General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Army Training Command (ARTRAC) Award for securing the top position in the MTech (Structural Engineering) course. The General Officer Commanding-in-Chief ARTRAC Award for BTech (Civil Engineering) and BTech (Mechanical Engineering) went to Lieutenant Priyansh Mishra and Lieutenant Anshuman Chaudhary of TES, respectively.
