Visva-Bharati vice-chancellor Bidyut Chakrabarty on Friday tried to show the varsity’s “serious” effort in containing the relentless fall in its national rankings, for the first time in his nearly three-year tenure at the helm, but was not “in a position” to answer when rusticated students would be taken back in keeping with a recent Calcutta High Court order.

Visva-Bharati was placed 64 among various state and central universities across the country in the list brought out by the National Institute Ranking Framework (NIRF) last week, a big slide from last year’s 50th spot. The decline seems to have become a trend, as the varsity ranked 37 in 2019, 31 in 2018 and 16 in 2016, when it first participated in the NIRF rankings. Chakrabarty joined Visva-Bharati in November 2018.

On Friday, Visva-Bharati held a news meet where officials handling the NIRF ranking and the National Accreditation and Assessment Council (NAAC) were present, besides Chakrabarty and varsity officiating registrar Ashok Mahato and others. They tried to explain how authorities were worried about the slide in rank and were eager to take steps against it.

The VC added: “In the two-and-a-half years, we did not think regarding this (fall in NIRF ranking) seriously. Now, the NAAC assessment lies ahead and I took the fall in NIRF ranking as a wake-up call.”

But asked when the three rusticated students would be allowed to go back to their academic activities, the VC said he would speak on it later. “We are not in a position to answer what you want from us. We will meet you again, when I will speak on it,” he said.

The high court on Wednesday ordered the rustication order be set aside for three dissenting students, Somnath Sow, Falguni Pan and Rupa Chakraborty. The students said they had not heard anything from the varsity so far.

Many said Chakrabarty’s silence on the students contradicted his avowed intent to improve the varsity’s rankings, as students and teachers working in harmony is crucial to the performance of an institution “The performance of teachers and students is an integral part of the NIRF ranking, and interestingly both these communities have been living in an environment of fear following several unjust, harsh steps, like rustication and suspension. Chakrabarty should first be inclusive to get a good result, as no one can perform well in the environment of panic,” said a senior varsity professor.

Sudhanshu Sekhar Maity, a statistics professor tasked to explain the poor show, claimed the fall in rank was the result of many better institutions taking party every year, but the varsity was trying to keep its score constant. In the 2021 NIRF ranking, Visva-Bharati’s score was 42.76, down from 46.84 in 2020. Maity said the number of publications and their quality was a component in which the varsity has been lagging behind.

“We have to improve in several sectors, including the teachers-students ratio, which was very bad, as there was an embargo by the UGC on recruitment from 2014 to 2020. However, we have started recruiting faculty members now,” added Mahato.

On Thursday evening, Visva-Bharati showcaused Sudipta Bhattacharyya, the suspended professor of economics, for his alleged role in instigating students in a protest movement over the rustication of the three students, in which the VC’s home was gheraoed for around a fortnight.

“I did not instigate it, but I personally participated in the movement, as the teachers are facing unjust and disproportionate punishments, only for protesting the wrongs on campus,” said Bhattacharyya, the president of Visva-Bharati University Faculty Association.

Rusticated student Sow had lodged a complaint against a teacher of Visva-Bharati’s Sangeet Bhavana with Santiniketan police, accusing him of insulting him over his caste. Sow belongs to the Scheduled Caste.