The National Commission for Women (NCW) has produced a report into RGNUL Patiala, following a fact-finding mission prompted by complaints made by students during their protests against the administration, urging the administration to fix a number of deficiencies.
The six-page NCW report has recorded a long list of grievances by students, in-part shared by students with the three-person fact finding team during their campus visit on 20 March 2019 (consisting of committee chairperson Chandramukhi Devi, and NCW member Soso Shazia and committee member advocate Nisha Rishi).
The NCW recommended that the “administration needs to be more sensitive on gender issue and must ensure gender equality”, adding that rules for “boys and girls should be same at all levels”.
It chastised the university to ensure that its internal complaints committee for sexual harassment complaints should be properly constituted and communicated to students, and to maintain “one separate 10-member grievance cell”.
The NCW also recommended that all written records should be maintained of disciplinary actions and complaints, for the university to safeguard the right of privacy of students, hold awareness seminars on sexual harassment, and maintain anonymous sexual harassment complaint boxes.
It advised the vice chancellor, Prof Paramjit Jaswal to “hold open interaction programme with the University students to avoid any chaos/protest in future”, and to keep the NCW posted about inquiries “pending against the faculty members”.
We have reached out to Jaswal for comment.
One student commented anonymously:
The students thank the Hon’ble National Commission for Women for their report. This was something that should have been done long back but with the amount of arbitrary pressure and power the administation imposes of students made it an impossible exercise till we all decided we have had enough of his tyranny.
The enquiry against S.P. Singh has been on and students have engaged legal representation to handle the enquiry. Lawyers Arjun Sheoran, Neha Sonawane, Aditi Sheoran and Amrita Garg from Vaakya Legal, a law firm in Chandigarh, are representing the students. The students have been told to produce witnesses in front of Smt. Manjot Kaur, Enquiry Officer in the S.P. Singh case but students are very scared of appearing in front of him fearing that once he knows the identity of the students, the administration will ensure that revenge is taken. Even now, there are threats from faculty members, making jokes about failing us in the examinations, calls to parents etc.
As stated in our complaint, we hold the authorities morally liable since the conduct of all persons mentioned in the NCW complaint was an open secret on the entire campus.
The NCW report (full copy below) noted some of the following issues:
- No Redressal Mechanism: Students were not aware of any such mechanism and authorities were never available to resolve the issues.
- Lack of Awareness for ICC: The students as well as teachers were not aware of the legal remedies available in terms of any complaint relating to sexual harassment at work place.
- No Interaction Programme University Administration does not hold any student-teacher interaction programme where students could share their problems.
- Impulsive Behaviour of the Faculty It could be noticed that [certain professors] have been rude to students and have passed anonymous marks against students.
- Right to Privacy Is Infringed: The taking away of the mobile phone of the student and accessing the gallery is surely an infringement of right to privacy.
The students had sent a complaint on 19 March 2019, towards the tail-end of their protests that ultimately led to the administration acceding to student demands for an independent inquiry into administrative officer Capt SP Singh (currently ongoing, despite some student misgivings),
Comments
Administrators in India care more about control than quality of instruction/education, with their obsession of attendance, memorization, subservience to authority and moral policing. They are completely disconnected with the ambitions of an aspirational nation.
We really need increased student inputs in university administration. Ignoring the voice of those for whom the universities are supposed to function, is a great disservice to the future of the nation.
Also, does RGNUL have a person employed with an NGO as a part of its ICC?
No it does not. Neither do we have our financial statements or executive council minutes up on the website. Thanks Dr. Jaswal.
Power dynamics in Jaswal's Administration is abhorrent. Jaswal, Naresh Vats and their subservient professors do not care for the students.
Here is another shameful incident from Punjab https://www.ndtv.com/cities/protests-erupt-after-students-in-bathinda-forced-to-strip-over-a-sanitary-pad-2031132?pfrom=home-topstories
But for the government it is business as usual as has been the case for RGNUL when Jaswal was allowed to run amok.
I know nothing about the role of Chowkidar in fact finding inquiry but the report was 100 per cent in favor of students. Why should we credit, or blame, the Chowkidar for the inquiry when all efforts were made by students alone. Why drag him in every single matter affecting the nation. Is this a case of pathological hate for the lowly Chowkidar?, I don't know.
But the movement brought all sorts of students with varied political opinions and also those largely apolitical on the same page.
How is a completely unconnected NLUD story relevant to the case at hand, one can only wonder.
In any case, nice try at spewing hate and pathological lies.
1. protest against bad food.
2. Wrongful suspension of students before exams
3 High court judges came to University guest house for that night.
Students saw an opportunity to protest against the University in front of a higher authority.
That is all. Don't start election propoganda anywhere you see a chance.
1. Superior infrastructure and beautiful campus
2. Excellent faculties
3. Placements and internships at top places.
The media coverage is one-sided and unfortunate.
There is a defunct placement cell in RGNUL led by mysogynist, [...]. They don't care about the placement cell at all. The placement cell got six students placed this time by one legal processing outsourcing company this year. Shame on them.
Jaswal might have given good infrastructure but he's a failed administrator only capable of ruling by tyranny.
[...]
Medicines which students can't get the health centre to bring even after making numerous requests. Medicines which are damn expensive and poor kids studying on loan deserve.
Internship and placement my foot. You can count on your fingers the number of people who got placed from college in a tier 1 firm in the last 10 years. One firm used to come to hire one person. Last I checked they had stopped in 2017. Oh, do you know why they didn't call them in 2017?
Because the placement coordinator wanted a person from the batch of 2016 to get hired in 2017. Yeah, that's right. A woman who did not need that job. Some 50 kids interned at that firm in the hope that they have a shot at getting a job at the only firm which used to come every year.
Internship Cell used to be the biggest joke. One year, they forced all kids to pay extra money to buy diaries- internship diaries. Guess who checked them? No one. Guess who got any benefit by filling them? No one. Guess who got benefit of the same? A priniting agency close to one of the internship Cell coordinator.
There are a lot of similarities between internship Cell and the placement cell. Both are useless. Both help you get nowhere. Both have students joining with the hope that they can at least help themselves. The minute they get something, they forget everything and move on. Claim that the concerned teacher sux, which they anyway knew that they did.
It is the same damn story every year. Just a new bunch of nincompoops.
I remember how an overactive bunch of kids line up to be placement committee members. Act like bffs for 6 months. Praise each other for doing a wonderful job with the brochure. All this while bitching at their backs to their actual bffs. As and when the members get ahead in their race, they drop out of the committee with some extraordinary pace.
All I fail to understand is what did the person think of before trying to glorify VCs contribution to placements and internships given that it has been a big fat 0 since 2007. Not only from the VC, but also from concerned coordinators (one was the warden and the other a wannabe tota) to the students who epitomised what being a fully grown up toddler means.
. You didn't have to redact
However, you can still find people have had different areas. I don't know all of them so this is a very limited list, but
Mitra - commercial laws
Chimni - International laws
Gurdip Singh (RML) - environmental laws
VK - family law
I am pretty sure not everyone is our has been a Constitutional Law scholar.
The need is to have a positive attitude where administration and students can work in harmony like a family. It is unhealthy to bring in outsiders in a family dispute.
NLSIU: Sudhir
NLUD: Umakanth
NUJS: SS Chatterji or NK Chakrabarti
GNLU: VC Vivekanandan
HNLU: Sairam Bhat
CNLU:Nagaraj
I think we can rule out Jaswal at any NLU after this.
I have been alloted a seat in rgnul. Since not much information was available with the people around I started doing my own research and sad to day, the things I have found are greatly discouraging. I know the infrastructure is top notch and all but I would like to attract advice from current students what to do? I know I am eligible for nluo . Help me choose.