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JNU academic council approves proposal to establish medical school, 500-bed super-speciality hospital
The university has proposed to establish a medical school and hospital offering super speciality treatment, including critical services in cardiology, organ transplant, neurology, and pulmonology, along with “non-conventional departments” with 50% faculty posts reserved for scientists. The cost of the project is estimated at ₹900 crore.
New Delhi: The Academic Council (AC) of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on Tuesday approved the proposal of establishing a medical school and a 500-bed super-speciality hospital on the university campus, amid opposition by some council members who described it as an attempt to change the character of JNU and commercialisation of a public university.
The JNU teachers’ association (JNUTA) also opposed the decision and wrote to the union education ministry to register its dissent.
HT on Tuesday reported that the university has proposed to establish a medical school and hospital offering super speciality treatment, including critical services in cardiology, organ transplant, neurology, and pulmonology, along with “non-conventional departments” with 50% faculty posts reserved for scientists. The cost of the project is estimated at ₹900 crore.
The matter will now be placed before the university’s top decision making body-- the executive council (EC)-- in its next meeting for the final approval, officials said.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, JNU rector RP Singh, who is also a member of the committee that prepared the proposal, said, “The Academic Council unanimously approved, as per the provisions of JNU Act 1966, establishing a School of Medical Sciences and an attached hospital with broad and super speciality departments including supporting and non-conventional departments.”
The school will offer courses at undergraduate, postgraduate and research levels with an “emphasis on modern medicine integrated with traditional medicine and knowledge systems from humanities and Social Sciences,” the statement added.
However, some council members alleged that they were not allowed to register dissent over the matter during the meeting that was held virtually in view of the Covid-19 pandemic. “I was not allowed to speak. In fact, they did not unmute me throughout the discussion over the proposal. This is nothing but another way of changing the character of JNU and commercialisation of a public university. At least two other members raised substantive issues regarding the resources and environmental impact that it might have on the campus. But their concerns were brushed aside,” said a member, who asked not to be named.
Later on Tuesday, JNUTA also wrote to union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan raising concerns over the proposal. “The 158th academic council meeting saw the vice-chancellor seeking AC approval for the establishment of a medical school and a super specialty hospital within JNU, without any major prior discussion on the feasibility of such a programme among faculty belonging to the Centre for Social Medicine and Community Health and other related schools. On matters as important as the conduct of JNU Entrance Examinations 2021-22, the vice-chancellor chose to simply inform the AC about the decisions taken already instead of following the procedural norms laid out in the university statutes,” the teachers body said in the letter.
The plan to set up a medical sciences school and the hospital involves hiring 259 faculty members and the total estimated budget of the project is ₹900 crore. The project will be completed in three years, officials said.
The JNUTA also questioned the delay in appointment of a regular vice-chancellor in JNU. M Jagadesh Kumar’s tenure as JNU V-C was to end on January 26, but the education ministry on January 22 directed that Kumar be allowed to continue in his position ‘until further orders’.
Despite several attempts, Kumar and JNU rector did not respond to calls and texts sent for a comment. An education ministry official said, “The recruitment process is going on. A decision is likely to be made soon.”
