JUNTA accuses admin of denying leaves to teachers

The JNU Teachers' Association (JNUTA) on Friday accused the university administration of being "insensitive" and denying leaves to teachers even for one's own wedding.

Members of JNUTA met Chintamani Mahapatra, Rector-I of the university, to express concerns about the "coercive" actions being taken by the administration.

"The administration has become so insensitive that they are blocking renewal of CGHS cards and even denying leaves to go for one's own wedding," the association alleged.

"In the recent spate of coercive measures taken by the present administration against faculty members, it has transgressed the basic parameters of human decency. Extremely grave instances of blocking paperwork and the - now all too common - denial of leaves, including casual leaves, impacting the day-to-day existence of affected faculty members, have come to light," they said.

Expressing anger at the "punitive, vindictive, and dehumanising treatment" meted out to colleagues, the JUNTA said, "The Rector expressed lack of knowledge and complete mystification when these concerns were placed before him."

"He asked us to provide names of the colleagues concerned so he could 'look into it'," it said.

The association and the university administration have been at loggerheads over refusal by some teachers to comply with faculty attendance.