Jadavpur University has withheld admission to its PhD programme under the arts faculty because, the officiating vice-chancellor said, the university’s highest decision-making body was yet to approve the results of the admission tests to screen applicants.
The executive council is the highest decision-making body of the university.
A notice signed by the dean, Faculty Council of Arts, on Friday night says: “The earlier notice of the admission schedule for the PhD programme dated 10.11.2023 is hereby revoked. The admission to the PhD programme 2023, under the Faculty Council of Arts, has been withheld till further notice.”
The decision has triggered protests among a section of teachers who said as the higher education department has stalled any meeting of the council, they wanted the officiating VC to approve the process that would enable the publication of the results and the start of the admission process.
The decision could be later ratified by the council whenever it meets next, the teachers argued.
“Since the fate of the council meeting has become uncertain, it is not correct to insist on the council meeting for approval. Why should prospective PhD students who have paid their application fees and written admission tests, suffer over the impasse on the council meeting?” said Imankalyan Lahiri, a professor of the international relations department.
On November 4, the state education department prevented Jadavpur University from holding a meeting of its executive council on the ground that the university did not have a “regular (full-term) vice-chancellor”.
Buddhadeb Sau was handpicked by governor C.V. Ananda Bose, the ex-officio chancellor of state-aided universities, on August 19 to perform the duties of a VC allegedly without consulting the department.
The Telegraph reported on November 13 that JU registrar Snehamanju Basu wrote to the department saying they wanted to hold a meeting of their top decision-making body on November 24.
Registrar Basu told this newspaper on Saturday that they had yet to get any response from the department.
Officiating VC Sau said the teachers during a doctoral committee meeting held just before the Diwali vacation, told him to approve the publication of admission test results and start the admission process with a note saying “subject to approval from the executive council”.
“If they too think that the council has to approve the entire process, then we should wait for the council to meet,” said Sau.
Sources close to Sau said the VC had received complaints that the departments register excess PhD candidates in violation of the UGC rules and he wants to take up the alleged anomalies at the executive council meeting.
“UGC rules say a professor, associate professor and assistant professor can register 8, 6 and 4 PhD candidates respectively under their fold. This is being violated in JU,” a JU official alleged.