JNU adminstration spreading lies: JNUTA

The Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers' Association (JNUTA) Wednesday accused the varsity administration of spreading lies and creating an impression that the policies undertaken by them are motivated by some concern for "teaching, learning, and research".

According to JNUTA, the average academic expenditure as a proportion to total expenditure of the varsity has gone down to 6.65 per cent in the last two years from 8.5 per cent in 2012-13 and 2015-16.

JNUTA president Atul Sood claimed that between 2012 to 2018, the JNU Library had an effective budget of about Rs six crore per year, as funds were granted to JNU with a separate head for library resources.

As of 2017-18, funds given to JNU came as a lump sum, and not pre-allocated to separate heads, he said, claiming the allocations to library and other heads were decided internally, and the library has been allotted Rs 1.7 crore only.

"While this was supplemented by some extra funds in 2017-18, no extra money has been allocated for this financial year. As a consequence, most journal subscriptions will have to be discontinued," he said.

The officials from the JNU administration did not respond to repeated calls.

Sood also claimed that the expenditure on library books and scientific journals in the last two years is around half (57 per cent) of what it used to be in the past (2012-13 to 2015-16).

Expenses for additions to e-journals in 2017-18 is only 0.2 per cent of what it was in 2016-17 (many e-journals have to be renewed annually), he explained.

"With the e-journals and databases provided by the UGC through INFLIBNET to JNU and other universities being discontinued from December 2018, this means that the JNU library will be virtually shut down, and this is exclusively because of the decisions of this administration alone," he said.

There has been a 15 per cent increase in receipts from academic fees in the last two years compared to the period before in spite of drastic seat cuts due to huge increases in fees, particularly that charged from the engineering students even though the facilities provided to them are below standard, he claimed.

Sood alleged that despite Rs 10.99 crore income from academic fees alone, Merit-cum-Means Fellowships are not being disbursed.

He also alleged that security expenses have gone up by 89 per cent in the last two years.

"The increase in the absolute amount spent extra on security is over Rs six crore on an average in the last two years, which is 6.7 times more than the amount reduced for library books and ejournals," he said.

In 2016-17, the security budget was Rs. 9.52 crore, which in 2017-18, has increased to Rs 17.37 crores, he claimed.

The JNUTA president also said the JNU administration is not revealing fully its legal costs and alleged there might be some discrepancies in it.

"Its financial records state that in 2016-17, it paid Rs 4,55,841 as legal fees, and in 2017-18, Rs 2,72,599. This figure is suspiciously low, given that for rectification of its disastrous policies and vindictive penalties have met with complete intransigence... JNU students, faculty, and staff have had to take the university to court over a hundred times since January 2016," Sood said.

The plaintiffs, mostly students, have won their cases in at least 50 instances. 43 cases are ongoing, many with orders favourable to the petitioners. About only 11 were withdrawn, he claimed.

"Where is the money to pay for these cases coming from? Or are Additional Solictor Generals and JNU's legal counsel appearing for the JNU administration pro bono?" he questioned.

Another major expense that next year's financial report shall record is the JNU entrance examination, whose expenditure mysteriously went up from Rs 3.75 crores in 2016-17 to Rs 6.04 crores in 2017-18, he said.

"This year, with the ill-thought academically unsound diktat that the JNUEE will be an exclusively online examination, which will involve engaging vendors and renting expensive equipments and venues, the costs of the JNUEE exercise will skyrocket," he said, adding examination expenses (including the JNU entrance examination) saw an increase between 2016-17 and 2017-18, of 60 per cent.

Unacademic thinking and diversion of funds away from teaching and research is the reason for our protest, he added.

A new head of expenditure called e-governance has been created since 2016-17, even though the previous administration, which had actually set up the entire e-governance system and software had not felt the need for it.

"In 2016-17, more than Rs 13 lakh was spent under this head, but in the last financial year, this expenditure has increased 2.64 times, to over Rs 36 lakh. Why is the e-governance system such a money guzzler? Should such a system be retained if it is going to become dearer every year?" he questioned.

JNUTA had gone on a day-long hunger strike on Monday demanding the administration to withdraw circulars pertaining to attendance and rescheduling of academic calendar.