Jadavpur University – an institution currently ranked fourth in the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIFR) and the only state-run university to figure in the national top 10 while ironically reeling under an acute funds crisis – seems to be facing an irreconcilable dilemma on whether it should further cut down costs from academic and infrastructure heads to enhance security inside campus.

While authorities confirmed they have approved the work order for installation of CCTV cameras at certain strategic locations in the wake of the cry for enhanced campus security following the death of a first year student, stakeholders of the institution are apprehensive that the monetary provision is likely to be made by further slashing down the already dwindling academic and infrastructure budget. Especially since Webel Technology Ltd, the Bengal-government undertaking chosen as vendor for the job, has reportedly quoted an installation cost of a whopping Rs 37 lakh for just the first set of cameras at university and hostel gates in Jadavpur and Salt Lake campuses.

There was no clarity, though, on the deadline for completing the installations despite demands from various quarters, both within the university and outside, to finish the job at the earliest.

“I have approved the work order for installing the cameras based on the budget given to us by our vendor. It is now being moved through our formal channels. I have asked the vendor to begin work within the next two days but I have no understanding on how soon the work can be finished since I have never done this before,” Prof Buddhadeb Sau, the newly appointed officiating vice chancellor, told The Telegraph Online.

“Very few oppose the need to install security cameras inside campus, especially after the unfortunate incident which cost one of our students his life. But where will the money come from?” asked Partha Pratim Roy, secretary, Jadavpur University Teachers’ Association (JUTA). “JUTA supports the need for enhanced security measures inside campus but it also demands that the government should shoulder its financial burden,” he added.

“Every high office of this state is talking about the need to install cameras and employ security personnel inside the campus. But no one is making any commitment about the funds which will be required for them. Recently the university slashed 40 percent funds from laboratory teaching on account of its crunch. Some of our buildings are in terrible shape. If more money is taken out of our academic and infrastructure heads, how would the university continue to strive for excellence?” the JUTA secretary asked.

What seems to have added to the teachers’ apprehension is the reported cancellation of the scheduled meeting of the university’s internal budgetary committee for two back-to-back days on Thursday and Friday.

A brief look at the university’s current financial status, where funds are a key component to promote higher education and research, can help understand this dilemma better. The institution has nearly stopped receiving central funds under various heads since 2017. It has reportedly not received allotted money under the Rashtriya Uchchatar Siksha Abhiyan (RUSA) under the Ministry of Human Resources Development which works under the announced goal to “Enhance and Enrich State Institutions: Improve Governance, Promote Meritocracy in Leadership”. Funds flow from the Niti Ayog’s Special Assistance Programme have also allegedly dried up.

The University Grants Commission, which listed JU under its Institutes of Eminence table in 2019 and, accordingly, sanctioned Rs 1000 crores over the next five years, has subsequently de-listed the university from its table after the Bengal government backed off from committing the mandatory 40 percent of that amount. The state government, on its own, is learnt to have halved its annual budget for the university which currently stands at Rs 25 crores as against the required Rs 55-60 crores.

“It’s perhaps under these circumstances that the authorities are falling for traps like offers of pro-bono security service from dubious organizations,” a teacher, referring to the sudden appearance of a self-proclaimed human rights organization personnel in uniforms resembling the Indian Army at the JU campus on Wednesday, remarked.

Senior advocate and CPIM leader Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, whose name features in the organization’s letterhead as “Chief Patron and Central Observer”, told this website: “I agreed to lend my name thinking this was a human rights organization. But clearly it isn’t. They have exploited my name in an unauthorized manner. I dissociate myself from this fraudulent organization.”

The Jadavpur Police meanwhile, after having taken suo-motu cognizance of the perceived offence after Army spokespersons denied having any such outfit under its fold, is mulling sending notices to JU authorities on grounds of “non-cooperation in investigation”, it was learnt.

Asked earlier in the day about the university’s response to police enquiry about this group’s entry inside the campus, registrar Snehamanju Basu said, “We are compiling reports from our security team in the campus. I will vet them and send them to the police. There is no question of my appearance before the police on this matter.”