Kolkata, Nov 9 (PTI) The Jadavpur University on Thursday said it has invited UGC chairperson M Jagadesh Kumar as its chief guest for the annual convocation to be held on December 24.
JU's officiating vice-chancellor Buddhadeb Sau said that Kumar has agreed to join the programme.
Other than Kumar, the state-run varsity considered the names of ISRO Chairman S Somanath and AICTE Chairman TG Sitharam for the programme, he said.
However, the Jadavpur University Teachers' Association (JUTA) opposed the decision to invite Kumar, alleging that the UGC delayed the granting of the 'institute of eminence' tag to the varsity and also restricted funding.
"In the light of such developments, the JU family is aggrieved with the UGC. This sentiment was ignored while inviting the UGC chairman," JUTA general secretary Partha Pratim Roy said.
"Kumar's statements during his stint as the vice-chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University showed that he is close to the party that is in power at the Centre, and JUTA has reservations about it," he said.
A spokesperson of the Students' Federation of India (SFI) said that UGC did not help the varsity with central funds in the last few years.
"However, we hope that the UGC chairman will assuage the grievances of the JU family, and take positive steps to address the issue," he said.