Left Candidates Win JNUTA Elections Unopposed

New Delhi: Left candidates D K Lobiyal and Surajit Mazumdar were elected unopposed as President and Secretary of Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers Association (JNUTA) in the results declared on Tuesday.

In a press communique, Election Commissioner Professor Ira Bhaskar announced that Ajmer Singh Kajal and Bishnu Priya Dutt were elected as Vice Presidents while Ghazala Jamil and Navneetha Mokil became Joint Secretaries.

The election results come at a time when teachers have been locking horns over denial of participation in meetings of academic and executive council, charge sheeting of teachers over participation in a strike and issues of promotions in the service.

Talking to Newsclick, Lobiyal, who teaches at School of Computers and System Sciences, said the major challenge in front of newly elected teachers’ association is to resolve the long-pending issues of teachers which has started taking a toll on the quality of academic life in the prestigious university. He said the university had been in news over bad reasons whereas the local issues still need to be fixed.

“We will try to resolve the pending issues of promotions which have been stalled now. A teacher usually gets promotion three times in his entire life. Since many teachers joined the university after quitting years of long service in other universities, the administration has been denying their due in promotions. We will strive to resolve the issue," he said.

Lobiyal further explained that the denial of promotions is taking a toll on the research in the university. He said," Promotions are like motivations. A teacher feels motivated when his contribution is recognised. Secondly, it also opens other avenues for them."

Surajit Mazumdar, a teacher at the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, told Newsclick that the struggle of teachers against disenfranchising their voices would continue. He said,"the teachers' association will continue to raise its voice against gagging of teachers by the administration. First, their promotions were stalled, then they were issued charge sheets. They even wanted to apply CCS rules over teachers. We will fight tooth and nail against it."

The teachers had launched a scathing attack against Vice Chancellor Jagadesh Mamidala after the administration tried to invoke CCS rules and termed it an attack on freedom of expression. Similarly, teachers also alleged that they were denied leave to attend seminars and other events this year. Another point of contention arrived when the administration asked Professor Romila Thapar, eminent historian, to assess her eligibility to be an emeritus Professor at the university.

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