To protest UGC regulations,JNU faculty members plan strike

At a general body meeting,held on Tuesday,the faculty members considered rejecting the regulations and calling for an all-India strike,but a member warned that the JNU faculty,“famously uninvolved in strikes,” should consider the proposal carefully before proceeding.

The JNUTA has decided not to reject the regulations yet,and has appointed a three-member committee,headed by noted political scientist Kamal Mitra Chenoy,to prepare a critique of the Academic Progression Index. The Federation of Central Universities’ Teachers’ Association (FEDCUTA),of which JNUTA is a part,has rejected the Draft Regulations.

The proposal was severely criticised at the general body meeting,with faculty members calling the document “un-academic” and the “single most serious threat to the teaching community since Independence,” and accusing it of “quantifying standards in a commercial fashion.”

The JNUTA,meanwhile,has decided to focus on the problems faced by assistant professors,calling for a reduction in the number of years that takes an assistant professor to be eligible for promotion for associate professorship. “If the UGC has its way,it will take 12 years for an assistant professor to be eligible for selection as an associate professor. We have decided to demand that it be brought down to eight years,” Baidya said.

JNUTA has also demanded that the UGC look into the discrepancy in the salaries given to professors promoted under Career Advancement Programme and those recruited under open recruitment. If the recommendations were to be implemented,the former would get lesser than the latter.

The body also called for the abolition on the 10 per cent cap on the Academic Grade Pay of Rs 12,000 proposed to be given to professors who have completed 10 years in service and has demanded that the AGP be given to all professors who have completed 10 years in service.