Jadavpur University students hold protest rally to condemn violence against fellow students and demand the resignation of West Bengal Education Minister Bratya Basu.
| Photo Credit: DEBASISH BHADURI
After Jadavpur University lost its Institute of Eminence (IoE) status, the teachers’ association raised questions about why the application fees of ₹1 crore sent to the University Grants Commission in 2019 for the IoE status application had not been refunded. The application fee is said to have been crowd-sourced, with alumni of the institute pulling in money.
According to a question raised in Rajya Sabha by the Bhartiya Janata Party MP, Samik Bhattacharya he had asked for the reason behind the loss of the status. In a reply, BJP’s Sukanta Majumdar, Minister of State for Education on Wednesday said it was due to steep decline in budgetary allocation.
The Jadavpur University Teachers Association (JUTA) has sent a letter to the interim vice chancellor of Jadavpur University, Bhaskar Gupta addressing the issue.
A letter signed by the JUTA president Partha Pratim Biswas and general secretary Partha Pratim Ray, asks, “Why was Jadavpur University denied the IoE status when the unconstructed Jio University was given this prestigious status even before it was set up?”
The letter also stated that during major financial crisis, Jadavpur University managed to gather ₹1 crore for the IoE application fee to send to UGC to successfully complete the application in 2019. “We gathered the money from alumni, teachers, and well-wishers. According to the rules of this initiative if an institute does not make it to the list then 75% of the application fee is returned. But the university has not received it to date,” the JUTA letter added.
Press inside campus
The JUTA members also raised questions about the actions of a Bengali news television channel, Republic Bangla. They alleged that the said channel is “intentionally running fake news about the university to malign its name. On March 13, they had over 10 cameras inside the university administrative building and said objectionable things to the pro-VC, Registrar, and administrative stuff”.
They also claimed that the news channel used provocative language and statement to instigate communal tensions inside campus. The press members also allegedly forced their way inside administrative offices and coerced students and teachers to speak to them against their consent.
Professors also said that while Jadavpur University has been notably one of the most prominent and academically respected institutes in the country, the news media presented a lopsided narrative to malign its reputation.
This comes as Jadavpur University remains embroiled in politics and turmoil for the past two weeks due to student clashes and protests demanding a fair student union election on campus.
Published – March 15, 2025 08:18 pm IST