JNUTA seminar on XIth Plan

Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers Association (JNUTA) held a seminar to discuss XIth Plan for JNU, in two sessions, first being devoted to the needs of the University and the second on Expansion and Adaptation. The seminar was well attended.

In the first session, Prof. Arun Kumar introduced the theme and moderated discussion. He emphasized
JNUTA’s role in formulating faculty opinion about the plan, which is being discussed at official level as well. He said while formulating the plan, philosophical understanding of higher education as given JNU preamble must not be overlooked. He suggested that rather than 6% of GDP, there should be 10% of GDP spending on education, and also emphasised that expansion in number of seats should not affect the quality of education. Prof. Arun Kumar focussed upon the need for democratic discussion on the eleventh plan.

Prof. Anil Bhatti spoke about the need of taking care of social sensitivities and interdisciplinary studies in future planning of academics in JNU. He also underlined the need of a conducive atmosphere to attract and retain talent by decentralizing the administrative structure. Prof. Santosh Kar spoke about the interaction between Faculty and students, which has decreased over the years. He wanted that job security should be ensured to students pursuing higher education. Prof. Kamal Mitra Chenoy emphasized upon remedial courses, particularly in English language for the students coming from poorer and rural backgrounds.

The second session, held under the chairmanship of Prof. Varyam Singh, began with a presentation by Prof. Anand Kumar, who spoke about the new challenges being faced in the arena of higher education, particularly in the context of proposed increase in the number of seats. He cautioned against instant increase in the number of seats, which could adversely affect the quality of education, although he said it was imperative to accept the inclusion of backward sections in higher education.

Rector of the University, Prof. Rajendra Prasad, in his intervention, underlined the fact that the concept of autonomy of university was myth, as the money bags were controlled by Government, which issues orders to be implemented. He spoke about problems faced by administration in implementing certain orders of the Govt. Dr. Chandrasekharan, Academic Coordinator, presented the data of students and read excerpts from gazette notifications issued by GOI for implementing reservations.
Dr. Andrew Lynn underlined the need for dignified treatment for faculty, in terms of providing them good houses and infra-structural facilities for academic  work.

President, Jawaharlal Nehru University Teachers Association

Transforming Public Service Delivery in India using Information Technology

The University has instituted a new seminar series to promote inter-disciplinary interaction between JNU faculty. Many of our schools and centres have excelled in their individual teaching and research programs. However, the interaction between different schools and centres has been relatively limited so far. It is the purpose of this seminar series to provide a forum for interaction between faculty with diverse specializations. The convenors of this seminar series were Dr. Sanjay Puri, SPS and Dr. Anand Kumar, SSS.

The first seminar in this context was delivered on 23 April, 2007 by Shri R. Chandrasekhar, Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Information Technology, Govt. of India. This seminar was held in the SAA auditorium. Shri Chandrasekhar gave an excellent lecture which highlighted the far-reaching impact of information technology (IT) on our daily lives. One tends to think that the impact of modern developments in IT is confined to urban areas. However, Shri Chandrasekhar demonstrated that IT-enabled services were dramatically transforming both urban and rural life. Shri Chandrasekhar also outlined the ”National E-governance Plan”, of which he is one of the primary architects. This plan proposes to transform our country by implementing e-governance at a grass-roots level. The lecture ended with a vigorous question-and-answer session. The Vice-Chancellor, Prof. B.B. Bhattacharya, delivered the concluding remarks.