An all-woman panel has for the first time been elected to the three seats reserved for teachers in the executive council (EC) of Jawaharlal Nehru University, the teachers’ body of the varsity said on Thursday.

“Women in all three posts is a first. Earlier, it was usually one or two,” a member of the JNU Teachers’ Association (JNUTA) said. The EC is JNU’s highest decision-making body.

The newly elected members are professor Chirashree Das Gupta from the Centre for the Study of Law and Governance, associate professor Veena Hariharan from the School of Arts and Aesthetics, and assistant professor Santana Khanikar from the Centre for International Politics, Organisation and Disarmament in the School of International Studies.

A JNUTA office-bearer said the trio defeated the candidates who had the support of the JNU administration and the Right-wing faculty group.

The election for teachers’ representatives to the EC was held on December 9, with an impressive voter turnout of over 90 per cent, as 634 faculty members cast their ballots, according to the JNUTA.

Gupta secured 141 votes in the professor category, Hariharan won with 84 votes in the associate professor category, and Khanikar received 121 votes in the assistant professor category.

Representing the JNUTA, the all-woman panel focused its campaign on key issues such as restoring and strengthening institutional norms and practices that respect teachers’ dignity, acknowledge their contributions and ensure their active participation in university governance.

They have pledged to address concerns related to Career Advancement Scheme (CAS) promotions and probation, among other pressing matters.

The EC has 14 members, including the vice-chancellor as Chair and the registrar as secretary. The university is for the first time headed by a woman vice-chancellor, Santishree D. Pandit.

Additional reporting by PTI