Kolkata: The Jadavpur University Teachers’ Association (JUTA) has appealed to Union Minister of State for Education, Sukanta Majumdar, seeking his intervention in including Jadavpur University (JU) in the Institute of Eminence (IoE) scheme.
Reportedly, Majumdar, revealed in response to a query in Parliament by BJP MP Samik Bhattacharya, that JU is set to lose its IoE status due to a ‘drastic’ reduction in budgetary allocation. He explained that the university’s funding proposal was slashed from Rs. 3,299 crore to Rs. 606 crore, a reduction that the Empowered Expert Committee (EEC) deemed inadequate to fulfil the objectives of the scheme.
JUTA, however, contested the rationale behind JU’s exclusion, arguing that the institution was originally selected based on a Rs. 1,015 crore project proposal, a proposal that specified Rs. 1,000 crore as the project cost for a period of five years. The teachers’ body highlighted that the requirement for state governments to provide a 25 per cent matching grant, which was introduced later, was not part of the scheme when it was notified in 2017 by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Criticising the exclusion, JUTA questioned why JU was bypassed while the private Jio Institute was granted IoE status despite lacking comparable academic credentials. The association emphasised JU’s rich legacy, its role in nurturing talent for over 120 years, and its historical significance, with its first vice-chancellor, Professor Triguna Sen, having also served as Union Minister of Education.
Expressing concern over political disputes affecting education, JUTA highlighted JU’s commitment to generating its own matching grant, an unprecedented step nationally. The association sought the minister’s intervention to include JU in the IoE scheme as a reflection of the Central government’s commitment to supporting this prestigious state-aided university and ensuring its continued excellence.