BJP Member of Parliament from Uttar Pradesh Varun Gandhi on Tuesday called out the first press statement of newly-appointed vice-chancellor of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Santi Shree Dhulipudi Pandit, and said “such mediocre appointments serve to damage our human capital and our youth’s future”.
Soon after taking over her charge as vice-chancellor, Pandit issued a statement thanking the Prime Minister and Minister of Higher Education for appointing her as the first woman VC of the university.
Varun has come down heavily on her for being appointed as the VC of JNU and singled out “mistakes” in her press statement in English saying it is “an exhibition of illiteracy”.
“This press release from the new JNU VC is an exhibition of illiteracy, littered with grammatical mistakes (would strive vs will strive; students friendly vs student-friendly; excellences vs excellence). Such mediocre appointments serve to damage our human capital and our youth’s future”, said Varun who had also attached Pandit’s letter along with his tweet.
He also said with few higher education institutions at par with global standards “India needs to have the right leaders to shape the journey for universities likely to succeed”.
The BJP leader who has been at daggers drawn with his party said the new appointment has “little to offer in academic vision”.
In his scathing attack against the VC’s appointment, Varun said “as such, appointing someone with little to offer in academic vision, credentials or even the ability to communicate, is a path to mediocrity and long-term illiteracy for our human capital”.
Varun, who has been for some time challenging his own party on many issues, including its economic policies, went on to say, “ We need leaders, with the right values, and discipline - not those who cannot do basic due diligence on their first press release with regards to their appointment.”
The BJP MP, in his no-holds-barred indictment of the VC of the JNU, an institution, which has been in the eye of the storm for fiery ideological controversies, also called her “a loudmouth”.
“A great institution like JNU needs empathy, sensitivity, and careful steering, not a loudmouth, with little verbal control. Academic credentials and past experience, not retweets, should be the criteria for selection”, said Varun.
The BJP MP has opposed the Modi Government’s stand on the Minimum Support Price and other Farmers issue and had earlier also shot-off a letter to the Prime Minister demanding “strict action” against Union Minister Ajay Mishra Teni, embroiled in the Lakhimpur Kheri massacre.
The new JNU VC holds M Phil and Ph.D. degree from JNU. The St Petersberg, Russia, born Pandit started her career in the field of teaching in 1988 at Goa University, and in 1993, she shifted to Pune University from where she has now moved to JNU.