JUTA seeks Centre’s intervention for inclusion of Jadavpur University in list of IoEs

NEW DELHI: The Jadavpur University teachers have urged the Minister of State (MoS) for education Sukanta Majumdar to intervene for inclusion of JU in the list of Institutions of Eminence (IoE). The teachers’ body objected to his response in the Rajya Sabha which pointed out the exclusion of the university from the IoE scheme due to a fund crunch.

Drawing attention to his reply on a question raised by Member of Parliament (MP) Samik Bhattacharya, regarding the status of Jadavpur University with reference to the IoE scheme launched by the University Grants Commission (UGC), the Jadavpur University Teachers Association (JUTA) noted in a letter that the scheme referred was notified by in 2017 for a special grant for upgradation of ten government-funded and ten private institutions for sustenance of their excellence to be more competitive in global standards.

The teachers’ group also noted that Majumdar excluded the JU from his reply due to a “drastic” cut in the scheme budget from Rs 3,299 crore to Rs 605 crore and further raised, outside the Parliament, the issue of non-compliance of West Bengal government to share the matching grant of 25 per cent for the said scheme.

However, JUTA argued, according to the UGC guidelines , the IoE scheme was meant for Rs 1,000 crore for a period of 5 years and accordingly the university submitted its project proposal of Rs 1,015 crore and was thereby selected by the empowered expert committee (EEC) in the list of top eight institutions.

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There was no provision for a project fund of Rs 3,299 crore in the UGC guidelines and the issue of matching grant was never a pre-condition in this scheme, which was added at a later stage after the selection of successful institutions, the teachers’ body argued.

JUTA requested the minister to go through the details of what happened for funding consideration of different institutions under IoE scheme since 2017. It was surprised to see that the Jadavpur University has been kept outside the purview of funding under IoE scheme whereas the Jio Institute, a private university, got selected “without any comparable credentials!”

Funding from centre

Demanding funding from the central government, the JU teachers said, “In last 120 years, the university has nurtured best of the human resources from different socio economic background of the country in general and West Bengal in particular. Therefore, being an elected member of the parliament and as a professor of a state-aided university, we want to draw to your special attention for promotion of this esteemed institute by central funding for its upgradation of teaching-research infrastructure and sustenance of its acquired excellence in national and international domain.”

Pointing out to the clash between central and state governments, JUTA said that it feels that education being the issue of concurrent subject under state and central government, the minister should try to revive the IoE project funding and the status of Jadavpur University. “...the university itself has committed to share the matching grant from its own generation during the project period, which is an unique example on a national level,” it remarked.

“In this backdrop, we request your kind intervention for inclusion of Jadavpur University in the scheme of IoE as a gesture of government reciprocation and its social commitment for survival of this prestigious state-aided university of the nation,” JUTA furthermore said in the letter.