| Caste
Colour to Varsity Blues
Varanasi’s
academics are miffed at an alleged Thakur take-over at Banaras Hindu University.
The controversy is doing the institution little good
SHIVAM VIJ
New Delhi
RAJESH KUMAR Mishra, Congress MP from Varanasi, is leading a campaign
against casteism at his alma mater Banaras Hindu University (BHU), alleging
that its Vice-Chancellor Dr Panjab Singh has appointed Rajputs to all
important posts and new recruitments. The “Thakurvaad” in
BHU has Varanasi’s Brahmin academics up in arms, the Prime Minister’s
Office has been requested to order an inquiry and fingers have been pointed
at Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh, himself a Thakur from
Madhya Pradesh.
In a letter to the
press, Mishra has accused Panjab Singh not only of caste bias in appointments
but also of nepotism, financial irregularities and saffronisation and
of violating the Banaras Hindu University Act, 1915, in the process. The
letter includes a list of appointments of 105 teachers made since May
2005, all of whom are Thakurs. This is alleged to be about 30 percent
of the total teaching appointments in the same period. However, these
are allegedly concentrated in a few departments. Says a dissenting academic
in Varanasi, “Of the available seats, 22.5 percent are reserved,
so the percentage of Thakurs among the general category who have been
appointed is inordinately high.”
| RIGHT-HAND
MAN |
DELHI-BASED
HUMAN rights activist Ashok Dubey has alleged in an open letter
that Panjab Singh has been saffronising BHU, despite having been
appointed by a Congress government. Describing Singh as a ‘local
Thakur of Banaras’, the letter accuses him of being an old
RSS man. “Though HRD Minister Arjun Singh projects himself
as a champion of progressive politics, he has appointed such RSS
people as Panjab Singh and Surg Singh Chauhan,” it reads.
While BHU issued show-cause notices to two of its teachers asking
why action should not be taken against them for attending RSS meetings,
they were not followed up on. Dubey’s letter also claims that
RSS literature is distributed on campus and slams DP Singh, head
of the BHU alumi cell, for publicly calling the RSS a cultural organisation
and saying that participating in it is an individual’s right.
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The letter includes
a number of allegations indicating that many of these appo - intments
have been made illegally. For instance, the letter includes documents
that say that the Rajesh Singh and Shravan Kumar Singh were appointed
professors in the Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding on the basis
of forged documents. In the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying,
the appointments of DP Singh and Jai Singh were challenged on similar
grounds by RK Pandey of the same department. Although the Vice-Chancellor
constituted an inquiry, the letter expresses dismay that the inquiry is
headed by BD Singh, also a Thakur like the two under scrutiny.
Another controversy
is over the Assistant Public Relations Officer Rajesh Singh, also a Thakur.
While he has a journalism degree from an open university, his background
is in agricultural sciences. The short-listing committee that chose him
allegedly had no person with a media background and was dominated by Thakurs
and those teaching agricultural sciences. Incidentally, Panjab Singh also
has a similar academic background — his previous assignment was
as Director General, Indian Council of Agricultural Research — and
it is thus alleged that he is favouring his former associates, mostly
Thakurs.
Thakurs have been preferred over others in administrative posts too. They
are the heads of as many as 19 committees — from Raj Kumar Singh
of the VC’s technical cell to DP Singh of the alumni cell, RG Singh
of the sports board and Anil Singh of the beautification committee. It
is not surprising that Brahmins, used to dominating academia, are feeling
marginalised. On the occasion of the Third BHU International Alumni Meet,
most of those the VC felicitated, it is claimed, were Thakurs.
IT IS even alleged
that the VC’s relatives have been favoured, including his nephew,
Anil Kumar Singh in the Ayurveda Faculty, and another relative by marriage,
PS Singh of the Institute of Agricultural Sciences. Though the VC abstained
from presiding over their interviews as there was a conflict of interest,
the Office of the Selection Committee has said in a reply to an RTI application
that “no record was available to show that they were relatives of
the Vice-Chancellor”. Rajesh Mishra’s letter states, “This
confirms manipulation at various stages of the selection process.”
The letter goes on to name the VC’s “close cohort” in
these matters, Sushila Singh, who allegedly holds two positions simultaneously.
Similarly, Rajkumar Singh was appointed professor in two departments to
extend him the maximum benefit of seniority and money.
Panjab Singh is himself
from Varanasi and, claiming that caste and personal equations rather than
academic merit have become the criteria to get a job at BHU, Mishra’s
letter alleges that under his Vice-Chancellorship too many teachers from
degree colleges in and around Varanasi have been appointed, sometimes
bypassing norms such as experience in postgraduate teaching. In violation
of rules set by the University Grants Commission, it further states, back-dated
promotions have been granted to in-service teachers. The Comptroller and
Auditor General of India has reportedly sought a clarification on the
salary bill inflated by Rs 2 crore thanks to these back-dated promotions.
Similarly, medical officers who do not have academic experience have been
given academic posts.
The charges are not limited to “Thakurvaad”. Mishra has also
demanded an inquiry into allegations of “financial irregularities”
at BHU, most focused around the BHU South Campus, coming up at Mirzapur,
80km from BHU and very near the VC’s village. While Panjab Singh
was away in the United States and thus could not be contacted as of this
writing, his response is awaited on e-mail. Academics and students alike
in the university were unwilling to say anything on record but the Varanasi
press has been buzzing with regular news items on the controversy severely
denting the reputation of the prestigious university.
CONTACT WRITER AT
shivam@tehelka.com
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