Mita Mukherjee
Jadavpur University, presently on the boil since early this month has lost the Institute of Eminence (IoE) status and Sukanta Majumdar, Union minister of state of education and development of North eastern region blamed the Mamata Banerjee -led Bengal government’s refusal to bear the share of funding for the IoE status.
During a question answer session in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, Samik Bhattacharya, BJP Rajya Sabha MP had asked the education minister what was the reason that prompted the regulatory body, University Grants Commission (UGC) to drop JU from the IoE list despite initially including it in the list in 2018.
“Originally, the tag of IoE made JU eligible for a grant of Rs 1000 crore for a period spread over five years. The IoE tag would have also given more autonomy to the institute. The state government sent a proposal of Rs 3299 crores which did not materialise. Later Jadavpur University sent a proposal of Rs 606 crore to the Centre seeking 75 percent of the fund from the Centre and the remaining 25 percent would be borne by the university itself from it’s own resources. The Centre did not accept this proposal and dropped Jadavpur University from the list,” Samik Bhattacharya the BJP Rajya Sabha MP told EducationWorld.
The significant decrease in the projected fund from Rs 3 299 crores to Rs 606 crores was not approved by the ministry of education, Bhattacharya said.
On Wednesday minister Sukanta Majumdar wrote on his X handle:”Mamata Banerjee’s Apathy Killed Jadavpur University’s IoE Dream! Jadavpur University, one of India’s finest institutions, was set to receive the prestigious Institute of Eminence (IoE) status—bringing ₹1,000 crore in central funding & greater autonomy. But thanks to Mamata Banerjee’s sheer negligence, JU lost this golden opportunity! The state govt first slashed JU’s proposed budget from ₹3,299 Cr to ₹1,015 Cr & then further down to ₹606 Cr—forcing the university to arrange 25% of funds on its own! UGC & EEC rejected this underfunded proposal, and JU was removed from the IoE list. While Failed Chief Minister@MamataOfficial blows crores on freebies & PR gimmicks, Bengal’s top university was abandoned by her government! This is a direct betrayal of students, teachers & Bengal’s academic future.”
According to sources in the state higher education department, initially, there was no instruction on the state government regarding sharing of the funds for the IoE status. But later, the Centre said that the state government would have to bear 25 per cent of the funds which the state government refused. This forced JU to take a decision to generate the 25 percent share on its own which the Centre did not approve.
Officials of Jadavpur University said that there were differences over the fund sharing proposals between the university and the Centre but the Centre has not informed the university about its decision to drop the institution from the IoE list. Though it has been said that the decision was taken in 2023.
Moreover, the state government or the university at no point of time had sent any proposal projecting Rs 3299 crores. “We had sent just two sets of proposals one projecting Rs 1000 crores which we were eligible and the other of Rs 606 crore. We have no idea of the Rs 3,299 crores proposal, the Union minister has mentioned. Moreover, we have not been informed about the decision to remove our university from the IoE list. The UGC had given us assurance to refund 75 percent of Rs one crore that had been charged from us as the IoE application fee if our proposal got rejected. We have not received the refund money till now though they are saying that JU has been removed from the list in 2023,” Partha Pratim Roy, secretary of Jadavpur University Teachers’ Association told EducationWorld.
Violence erupted at Jadavpur University on March 1 when education minister Bratya Basu had visited the campus and an impasse had been prevailing in the institution since then.
