The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : JNTU Act is in for a change

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Friday, Nov 16, 2007
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

JNTU Act is in for a change

Bill likely to be introduced in current Assembly session

HYDERABAD: In an effort to bring in uniformity among all the University Acts, the State Government is planning to bring a few changes in the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU) Act where the Vice Chancellor apparently has been vested with more powers.

The bill introducing amendments to the Act is likely to be introduced in this Assembly session itself. If not, the changes would come into effect through an ordinance after the session is over. Academics attribute the sudden decision to introduce amendments to the Act to the developments in the university that led to several controversies. When questioned on different platforms the Vice Chancellor reportedly argued that he had all the powers to take such decisions in the interests of the university. These are related to transfers of senior teachers and also appointment of teachers in crucial positions.

Argument

The final nail in the coffin however has been the reported argument with the senior officials of the Government in the last Executive Council meeting. On being questioned on certain decisions, the VC reportedly asked the officials that under what Act they would stop him from implementing decisions. Senior teachers say that the major difference between the A.P. Universities Act 1991 and the JNTU Act is that the EC is the supreme body in other universities whereas there is no clear mention of it in the JNTU Act giving the Vice Chancellor more powers. The A.P. Universities Act 1991 that is applicable to seven conventional universities in the State gives freedom to the Vice Chancellors but all major decisions either have to be approved by the EC before implementation or at least ratified by it later.

A senior official of the State Government told The Hindu that the decisions should be collective as is the practice in other universities and the effort is to create a channel where affected parties can appeal. “That is how the Government functions,” he said. Some teachers, however, argue that too much has been read into the Vice Chancellor’s decisions that have been taken for administrative purposes. “In every university VCs override certain decisions of the EC to ensure smooth functioning,” they argue.

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