JU teachers stop nomination of deans

A CPM-controlled lobby of teachers on Monday prevented the Jadavpur University authorities from nominating three temporary deans to head the faculty councils and oversee academic activities.

Vice-chancellor P.N. Ghosh had called a meeting on Monday morning to nominate the deans of the three faculties — engineering, science and arts.

He was forced to cancel the meeting as members of Jadavpur University Teachers’ Association insisted that the deans who had been appointed under provisions of the old university act during the rule of the Left Front government should be allowed to function as “caretaker deans”.

Ghosh said the posts of dean had become vacant when the faculty councils were dissolved after the Trinamul Congress government issued the West Bengal University Laws (Amendment) Ordinance 2011.

“We need to nominate deans temporarily as it will take at least six months to reconstitute the faculty councils. If we keep the posts vacant for such a long time the university’s academic functioning will be hampered,” added Ghosh.

“The vice-chancellor has no right to nominate deans in this way as there is no such provision in the Jadavpur University act,” said a teacher associated with Juta.

The deans are responsible for overseeing the university’s academic activities, including admissions, structuring of syllabus, framing of teacher and research fellow selection procedures, preparing academic calendars and overseeing doctoral programmes.

The Juta members said they would allow the authorities to select the deans only after the faculty councils were reconstituted under the provisions of the amended Jadavpur University act.

They, however, later agreed to allow the authorities to nominate the deans provided they took a “special permission” from the state government.

“We will not allow the vice-chancellor to take an important decision unilaterally,” said Parthapratim Biswas, general secretary, Juta.

Ghosh wrote to the higher education minister seeking the “special permission”.

Ads soon for Presi posts

Presidency University will soon advertise for a registrar, deputy registrar, controller of examination and dean of students.

The advertisements seeking applications for the posts will be published in April, vice-chancellor Malabika Sarkar told Metro.

The one-year tenure of the acting registrar, Pradip Sengupta, will end in May, said an official of the university.

Sengupta was appointed last year by the first vice-chancellor of Presidency University, Amita Chatterjee.

Sengupta, the former controller of examination at Jadavpur University, has also been serving as controller of examination at Presidency.

The higher education department recently sanctioned the posts, allowing the authorities to start the recruitment process, said a source.

“The matter will be raised in the university council meeting scheduled for March 22. Once the council okays the appointment, the university will publish the advertisements,” said an official.

Sugata Bose, the chairman of the Presidency mentor group, is expected to attend the meeting.The university has already decided to appoint a dean of students, who will be responsible for ensuring a “free and fair” union election on the College Street campus (picture top) in September.

Governor M.K. Narayanan, the chancellor of Presidency, had insisted on the appointment of a dean of students in the first council meeting of the university on January 5 to prevent unrest on the campus.

The advertisement will also invite applications for the post of dean of students, said an official. “The authorities are currently finalising the required academic qualifications and administrative experience for each post. The university intends to make appointments before the start of the next academic session in July,” added the official.

Committee to select Jadavpur University VC

KOLKATA: A three-member search committee has been set up to select the new vice-chancellor of Jadavpur University. The present VC of the university is Pradip Narayan Ghosh wose term comes to an end on April 14.

The committee will be chaired by Gobardhan Mehta, former director of Indian Institute of Sciences in Bangalore. The other two members will be M Anandakrishnan, former vice-chancellor of Madras University and present member of board of governors of Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, and Srikumar Bandopadhyay, chairman of Energy Atomic Commission. Court, the highest administrative decision making body of JU had nominated Bandopadhyay to be a part of the committee.

A search committee was set up to select the new vice-chancellor of Jadavpur University after present V-C Pradip Narayan Ghosh’s term comes to an end on April 14. The search committee will be chaired by Gobardhan Mehta – former director of Indian Institute of Sciences in Bangalore. The other two members are M. Anandakrishnan former V-C of Madras University and present member of board of governors in Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur and Srikumar Bandopadhyay the chairman of Energy Atomic Commission. Court – the highest administrative decision making body of JU had nominated Srikumar Bandopadhyay.

As per the amended rules, the state government may allow Pradip Narayan Ghosh to continue in office beyond his term if the new VC is not appointed within April 14. Else, the state government in consultation with chancellor and Governor M K Narayanan, may appoint a new vice-chancellor on ad-hoc basis for a term ranging between six months and a year.

Discussion on campus discipline

KOLKATA: Campus skirmishes have escalated in recent times, leading to heightened concern about discipline in educational institutions. Educationists came together on Wednesday to discuss what needs to be done to ensure and create a healthy democratic environment in colleges and other institutions of higher learning.

Commenting on ‘Maintaining Discipline in Educational Institutions’, La Martiniere for Boys principal Sunirmal Chakravarthi said despite having the responsibility of imparting value-based modern and high-quality education, schools don’t have the right to discipline the children.

“Teachers are damned if they do and damned if they don’t. We are really crying out for help,” Chakravarthi said. He raised a question: Since parents have abdicated their duties and schools can’t punish them, who is to educate the child between what is right and wrong? Jadavpur University VC Pradip Narayan Ghosh felt authorities too were to blame for clashes and agitations.

He pointed out that rarely do students demand better quality of teaching or educational facilities during strikes or agitations. Most of the disruptions are political and election-related. All panelists felt politics should be removed from educational institutions.

“A political atmosphere is not conducive for an educational institution,” said St Xavier’s College principal Felix Raj.

New fire stations, not gear

The fire department has decided to set up six new fire stations in the city and the suburbs at a cost of Rs 7.5 crore to avoid delay during emergencies.

Fire minister Javed Khan made the announcement last week. “It becomes difficult for firemen to tackle a blaze as it takes a lot of time to reach the spot because of the distance between the place and the fire station. So we have decided to set up more fire stations,” the minister said.

He added that the new fire stations have been proposed on the EM Bypass (near Pragati Maidan police station), inside Jadavpur University, on Strand Road and in Kidderpore, Baruipur and Garia. “The land for the first three fire stations have been identified. Work will start after we receive the clearances from the finance department,” Khan said.

The plan has attracted criticism from senior officials of the department, who questioned the wisdom behind building new fire stations at such a high cost (Rs 1.25 crore each) without first clearing plans to procure much-needed equipment and creating infrastructure for better firefighting.

“Earlier, in most cases, men and machines from bigger stations were moved to smaller ones. But new recruitment and procurements were hardly ever made,” said a senior official of the fire department. He also questioned the logic behind some of the proposed locations. “Strand Road has two fire stations nearby — at Mohammad Ali Park and Poddar Court. Why set up another one within a radius of a kilometre?”

Another official said: “It is a good idea to set up more fire stations but latest equipment and better infrastructure are the need of the hour. Simply opening new stations will not solve the problems.”

He said the fire department had struggled during the AMRI fire because of the lack of breathing apparatus. “The firemen do not even have proper boots or flashlights. Most ladders are manual. There should be more small engines fitted with electronic ladders. Priority should be given to these.”

Nobel laureate for JU talk

The Nobel laureate virologist credited with the discovery of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) will be in the city next month to attend a seminar organised by Jadavpur University (JU).

On his first visit to India, Luc Antoine Montagnier will deliver the keynote address at the 12th International Congress of Ethnopharmacology at Science City auditorium on February 17. The congress, being held in India for the first time, is being organised by JU’s School of Natural Product Studies and will be inaugurated by former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.

Virologists in the city are eagerly awaiting the visit of the French scientist, who received the Nobel in 2008 in physiology or medicine.

“We are looking forward to the interaction between Luc Montagnier and drug companies and researchers on developing effective vaccines for combating the dreaded disease. The interface may even lead to the development of an effective and cheap vaccine in India,” said Dhrubo Niyogi, the former director of the Indian School of Tropical Medicine.

Pulak Mukherjee, the organising secretary of the congress and the director of the school, said Gerard Bailly, the assistant professor working under Montagnier, will also address the meet. “Representatives from over 50 countries will take part in the congress with more than 1,000 delegates from across the world,” said JU VC Pradip Narayan Ghosh.

Night walk on the wild side

A group of around 15 enthusiasts, flashlights in hand, hugged tight their hooded jackets and huddled deep into Rabindra Sarobar on the night of Thursday the 12th.

The chill was only beaten by the thrill. For these were Calcutta’s “first nocturnal nature walkers” at the Lakes.

Each member trod carefully along the banks of the water body, careful not to step on the slippery algae as they paused at intervals to peer into the waters.

“Look! That’s a snakehead. They are an aggressive species that can drive away any fish of its size,” said Nilanjan Mukherjee, an English student at Jadavpur University by day and a fish and reptile expert by night. He pointed his torch at a two-foot-long striped fish, glistening in the moonlight. Everyone leaned forward, some clicked pictures while others also spotted the rui maachh and tilapia as they swum in schools nearby.

Further down, the group stopped to look at “nature’s signs” — bird droppings on the road, an indication of a roosting place above, or the skull of a crow.

“Few know that the 193-acre area is home to parrots, barbets, starlings, mynah and harder-to-spot birds like Golden Oriole and Red-throated Flycatcher. There are around 128-132 species of butterflies in Calcutta and almost 70-80 of these can be found in Rabindra Sarobar,” said Arjan Basu Roy, nature guide for the night, and founder of green NGO Nature Mates-Nature Club.

The expert’s idea of coming close to nature is getting down (and often dirty). “Unless you are there, you don’t know what to protect. Unless you see the fish, study the trees, enjoy the silence of the night and the moonlit sky, the urge to protect and love nature will not come from within. You can say ‘I won’t cut trees’ but only when surrounded by nature can you really begin to mean those words,” said Arjan.

The green gang let nature take its course, stopping next at a tree, home to many slimy slugs, snail-like creatures without the shell. An adventurous Ishika Mukherjee, 21, reached out her hand to hold a slug. “It’s the first time I held a slug in my hand and weird as it sounds, it was so exciting! It left a shiny trail on my palm, which I wiped off with a leaf later. It’s so strange because I live close by and I used to come here for my morning walks but I’ve never noticed these things before,” said the student of ISB&M College, visibly awed at her first real brush with nature.

It is this awe that Mudar Patherya feels will bring nature lovers like Ishika to the Rabindra Sarobar. “A sense of awe is what needs to be created. We need to identify the champions of the wild — be it a 60ft radius of a Shirish rain tree, or a simple slug — so that people talk of the Rabindra Sarobar as an amazing natural habitat. And the best thing is you don’t have to go to a forest: a sanctuary packed with wildlife is near your home,” said the green activist who conceptualised the walk on the wild side.

As the group moved deeper into the dark, their paths lit only by the light from their cellphones and a few torches, it got more exciting with spiders, stink bugs and fruit bats. One tree had a machaan (a tree house without a roof) built especially for bird watchers. Sneha Paul, 21, was one of the first to climb the bamboo ladder to the top of the foliage. “I could see the nests of birds and the vastness of the lake ahead. Cool breeze on your face, the silence of the night broken occasionally by the sound of crickets… it was beautiful. I hope they build more of these machaans. I would love to go for nature walks every week.”

If plans work out, the hotel management (NSHM) student may be able to that. Both day and night trails are on the cards, with the next one scheduled for the first week of February.

“These trails are not just for nature lovers but also for those who want field-oriented practical knowledge to pursue it as a career with wildlife NGOs later,” said Arjan, adding, “Other plans include a flower haat on Saturday or a vegetable market on Sunday. We will also build two-three more machaans.”

The Rabindra Sarobar authorities have long wanted to alter the kind of footfall that comes into the area. “We want to make this place a hub for all kinds of nature activities. This first-of-its-kind nature trail created quite a buzz and we want to make the place more accessible to the public, especially nature lovers, sportspersons and youngsters. There are very few cities in India that have waterbodies like ours,” said Vivek Bharadwaj, the CEO of CMDA.

No extension for VCs unless chosen by panel

KOLKATA: Vice-chancellors of state universities appointed during Left Front rule will not be given extensions when their tenures end. The only exception to this rule will be Calcutta University (CU) VC Suranjan Das as the new state government is content with his work.

When a VC’s term ends, eminent academics will be chosen by the chancellor, Governor M K Narayanan, to run the university till a search committee is set up to select the next VC.

Sources said that during Thursday’s meeting between education minister Bratya Basu and Narayanan, discussions were held about Das as his term ends on May 1. “The minister as well as the chancellor expressed a desire to allow him an extension since they were content with his work,” the source said.

“The governor’s decision came after several VCs expressed a desire against continuing in office with uncertainty looming large during the extension period. No major decisions can be taken and administrative work in the university is hampered. Many VCs who were given an extension are now interested in returning to academics to continue their research work. Thus, considering all factors, the governor had suggested to the education minister and higher education secretary Satish Tewary that no longer should VCs be given extensions if they are not reappointed by the search committee for another full term,” said a source.

Since the Trinamool Congress has come to power, several VCs have been given an extension following the governor’s embargo on all appointments in universities till the bill for amending university statutes was passed in the assembly and took effect. Now, no more will any VC appointed during Left Front rule be given an extension on completion of term.

Terms of at least five VCs end over the next six months, including Suranjan Das of CU, Pradip Narayan Ghosh of Jadavpur University (JU), Karuna Sindhu Das of Rabindra Bharati University, Arunava Das Mazumdar of North Bengal University (NBU) and Sabyasachi Sengupta of West Bengal University of Technology (WBUT).

“I was not prepared for the six-month extension I got when my four-year term expired on October 14. Once my extension gets over on April 14, I will rush abroad. I desperately want to return to research,” said Pradip Narayan Ghosh.

Sabyasachi Sengupta lashed out at the government when asked if he was expecting an extension after his term ends on June 8. “The Left Front never interfered in the functioning of the university since I was appointed. The current system is not working for me. I object to working under the newly-framed University Amendment Bill under which VCs have been reduced to puppets,” Sengupta said.