PRESTIGIOUS INI STATUS: JU teachers fume, BESU celebrates

Mou Chakraborty
Kolkata, September 7, 2007
IT’S A tale of two campuses — Jadavpur University (JU) and the Bengal Engineering and Science University (BESU), Shibpur. It’s a study in contrast. While teachers at the JU are annoyed with their bosses for pulling out of the race for Institute of National Importance (INI), their BESU counterparts celebrated higher education minister Sudarshan Roychoudhuri’s announcement on Friday that the university would be accorded the prestigious status soon. The INI tag is set to come at a time when BESU turns 150 in November.
Upset with the bosses for letting them down, JU teachers alleged that the university was short listed for the INI status but the authorities pulled out of the race and settled for a one-time grant.
“It was a politically motivated move. The authorities discussed the issue with only a few teachers and placed it before the university’s executive council, which is an administrative body. The matter was not placed before academic forums like the board of studies or the faculty council,” said JU professor and general secretary of the All Bengal University Teachers’ Association (ABUTA) Tarun Nashkar.
They feel the university would suffer once the BESU becomes Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology (IIEST). “It’s only natural for the best students not to opt for JU. We want the university to reconsider its decision as the Anand Krishnan Committee is yet to shut doors on the issue,” Nashkar said.
The mood on the BESU campus was upbeat on Friday. The higher education minister’s announcement that BESU would soon get INI tag brought cheers to all. “As per the Centre’s communication we feel that the INI bill will be introduced in Parliament in the winter session,” Roychoudhuri said at a seminar at the varsity.
But BESU bosses are in a hurry. They are pursuing the Central and the state governments to confer the INI status before November by bringing an ordinance. The Centre is drafting the INI Bill and once it gets the President’s assent, Shibpur’s BESU will be known as the Indian Institute of Engineering Science and Technology.
In another development, the ABUTA has decided to request the higher education ministry to fill up vacant teaching positions in universities across Bengal. “About 30 per cent teaching positions are lying vacant in JU. In other universities it is 60 per cent. This is hampering teaching and research work,” Nashkar said.
ABUTA will also take up the issue with chancellor of state universities Gopal Krishna Gandhi and Roychoudhuri. The outfit has warned of ‘action’ if their demand is not met.
Mou.Chakraborty@hindustantimes.com