Top profs to meet guv with JU concern

KOLKATA: A team comprising some of the state’s best-known academicians — all with a Jadavpur University (JU) connection — will meet governor Keshari Nath Tripathi on Monday afternoon with several complaints and suggestions.
The visit to the governor, who is also the JU chancellor, assumes special significance in the wake of the alleged molestation on the campus, the police action on protesters, and the huge wave of protests that followed.Among those who will be part of this team are Sukanta Chaudhuri, professor emeritus, department of English at JU; Ashokenath Basu, former JU vice-chancellor; Amita Chatterjee, former Presidency University vice-chancellor; Anandadeb Mukherjee, former Vidyasagar University vice-chancellor; and Jashodhara Bagchi, former professor of English at JU.
The academics are expected to submit a written note to the governor, detailing their concerns over current developments at the university. The note has been signed by at least 10 well-known academics who have been teachers and vice-chancellors of JU in the past. The academics clarify that they represent no forum and have been forced to visit Raj Bhavan to brief him about some long-term academic problems. The governor has agreed to meet the team at 2pm.
After meeting him, the team will brief the media about the outcome of the meeting and the intention with which they came to Raj Bhavan. Confirming that he will be a part of the team on Monday, Chaudhuri said: “I will be part of the five-member team on Monday. The meeting is about certain academic and administrative problems that have assumed serious proportion at JU and not necessarily about the current problems that are being reported in the media.” TOI had reported last week, quoting Chaudhuri, that a large number of interdisciplinary schools at JU have become virtually non-functional since they have no director now. “This is just one problem. There are several others which, in the long run, will cause a lot of harm to JU. We want the chancellor to be aware of them,” Chaudhuri said.