– Mita Mukherkee

One of the immediate priorities of the newly- appointed vice-chancellor of Jadavpur University is to reinstate the Institute of Eminence (IoE) tag which the university had lost two years ago, reportedly due to differences between the Bengal government and the Centre over fund sharing proposals.

” The proposal for awarding the institute of eminence tag to Jadavpur University has been withdrawn ( by the Centre). One of my immediate priorities is to reinstate this tag. I will soon start the process to regain the status,” Chiranjib Bhattacharjee, the new vice-chancellor told EducationWorld.

Bhattacharjee, also the president of West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education and a former pro-VC of Jadavpur University assumed charges as JU vice-chancellor on November 3. The university, known to be one of the best state-aided institutions in the state, has not had a full-term VC in the past two and a half years. It did not have even an officiating VC since March which has resulted in decline in the overall academic standards and administrative functioning of the institution.

The empowered committee of University Grants Commission had shortlisted Jadavpur University and seven other public institutions in the country for the eminence tag in 2018.

With the eminence tag, the university would have received Rs 1,000 crore over a period of five years. The IoE tag would have also given more autonomy to the institute.

Sources said after the Centre included Jadavpur University as an institute having the potential for the IoE tag, the state government sent a proposal of Rs 3,299 crores to the Centre which did not materialise. Later, the university sent a proposal of Rs 606 crore to the Centre and sought 75 percent of the grant from the Centre and the remaining 25 percent would be borne by the university from its own resources. The Centre rejected this proposal and dropped Jadavpur University from the IoE list.

According to the vice-chancellor, outreach, diversity and inclusivity are important for the improvement of the academic environment of universities. He said Jadavpur University needs to improve its activities in these areas.

Jadavpur University still continues to be a preferred destination for bright students in engineering even though the university’s position in the NIRF ranking has dipped from 12 last year to 18 this time. The steep slide was due to the university’s low scores in two parameters including graduation outcome and public perception.

“In order to ensure that the university continues to attract bright and meritorious students, the university has to achieve a higher position in national ranking. We need to focus on better performance in public perception. We also need to focus more on diversity, inclusivity and outreach programmes — the areas where we are not doing very well,’ the vice-chancellor said.

Bhattacharjee also intends to take prompt action to fill up the vacant teaching post as recruitment of faculty members has been stalled for the past two and a half years. The university has 890 approved teaching posts but there are only 580 teachers at present. He said filling important administrative posts is also one of his immediate priorities. Important posts of officials like the registrar, the dean of students and the deans of various faculties are lying vacant at present.

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