The Centre on Thursday brushed aside the JNU students’ and teachers’ demand to remove vice-chancellor M. Jagadesh Kumar, who has received public endorsement from senior BJP leaders such as general secretary (organisation) B.L. Santhosh.

“We are trying (to ensure) that JNU returns to normalcy. The basic issues need to be resolved. Changing X, Y or Z is not as important as solving the key academic issues,” higher education secretary Amit Khare told reporters in answer to a question.

Khare had earlier met a delegation from the JNU students’ union and teachers’ association to discuss their grievances, including the hostel fee hike and Sunday’s violence on the campus by armed goons. The delegation demanded the vice-chancellor’s removal.

Khare said the vice-chancellor and his team had been summoned for a meeting on Friday to discuss a way out. In the afternoon, Khare is to again meet the students’ and teachers’ representatives.

Former human resource development minister and BJP veteran Murli Manohar Joshi posted a tweet on Thursday castigating Kumar’s conduct and demanding his removal.

“Reports are that the HRD ministry had twice advised the JNU VC to implement certain reasonable and working formula for resolving the issue of enhanced fees in JNU. He was also advised to reach out to the teachers and students,” Joshi wrote.

“It is shocking that the VC is adamant for not implementing the government proposal. This attitude is deplorable and in my opinion such a VC should not be allowed to continue on this post.”

Last month, the HRD ministry had negotiated an agreement with the students’ union and the university administration on certain points, such as the withdrawal of certain utility and service charges from the enhanced hostel fees. They had also agreed on official recognition for the students’ union.

However, while the revised hostel manual the administration notified on December 30 mentioned only the increased room rent, it angered the students by merely avoiding mention of the utility and service charges instead of explicitly declaring their withdrawal. Nor has the university notified its recognition of the students’ union yet.

Removing a vice-chancellor entails a long process involving the framing of charges, an inquiry, a showcause notice and finally a dismissal with the approval of the Visitor, who is the President of India.

There have been instances, however, of the HRD ministry asking a vice-chancellor to resign. Sachidananda Mohanty stepped down last year as vice-chancellor of the Central University of Koraput after being asked to do so.

Sometimes, the ministry gets a controversial vice-chancellor to go on leave, as Hyderabad Central University VC Appa Rao was asked to do amid a turmoil on the campus following the suicide of Rohith Vemula in 2016.

No such option relating to Kumar seems to be on the table. A JNU teacher said the vice-chancellor remained a favourite with the BJP, whose leadership supported his handling of a university it saw as a Left bastion.

Santhosh, an RSS man lent to the BJP to function as an interface, who ranks third in the party organisation, had on Wednesday tweeted a salute to Kumar. “He is VC of #JNU... The third most hated person by left liberals of this country… Here he is bound by his duty amidst the vandalism to prevent him from discharging his duties… You deserve a bow Sir..,,” Santhosh wrote.

Khare said the government’s priority was solving the academic impasse at the university, which is witnessing a boycott of classes and the semester exams in protest at the hostel fee hike, imposed in October.

Thursday was the first time Khare had met the students and teachers after Sunday’s violence, when thugs carrying sticks and iron rods stormed the campus and assaulted the agitating students, including students’ union president Aishe Ghosh and several teachers.

“If normality has to return, the atmosphere of fear has to be eliminated from the campus,” Surajit Mazumdar, a professor who was part of the delegation, told reporters after the meeting.

“Teaching and learning must happen as usual. For that the vice-chancellor must go.”

Kumar has set up a five-member committee headed by a professor, Sushant Mishra, to “inquire into the whole incident of (Sunday’s) violence”.

Mazumdar said the teachers did not trust the panel. “Several preferred people have been made members of the panel. The role of the vice-chancellor is suspect in the violence. The committee appointed by him cannot investigate this,” he said.

Mohammed Danish, students’ union joint secretary, said the students now wanted a complete rollback of the hostel fee hike and strong action against the intruders who had attacked them on Sunday.