JNU needs more funds to retain edge, says VC

New Delhi:JNU VC Sudhir Kumar Sopory believes the university needs increased funding for improving facilities and infrastructure or else the progress made under his tenure cannot be sustained. At an interaction with TOI on Wednesday, Sopory spoke about the initiatives taken during his tenure to improve JNU’s global ranking as well as other measures like making the campus accessible to differently-abled people and of giving more time to such students to complete their theses.Sopory also said that India is a “very tolerant country” and that he didn’t support ‘Award Wapsi’.
Sopory was one of the founding wardens of JNU and he said his term has been a satisfying one, barring two incidents—when a student attacked and wounded his classmate and later committed suicide, and when three students died in a fatal motorcycle accident within the campus.
“These five years have been a very different experience for me. Earlier I used to do my own research and I knew only a specific domain. Being here for five years, I have interacted with all the faculty and students of every centre. That has enriched me,” the VC said.
“We were declared as a university for potential of excellence for both social sciences and sciences. Earlier it was only for sciences. A major achievement has been to bring people together and come up with new knowledge in the university. JNU is supposed to be for knowledge generation and policy framework, and I feel a bit satisfied that on this front the profile of the university has improved,” he said.
Sopory feels that induction of over 200 new faculties during his term will give a new momentum to the university in research and teaching. JNU has made it to the top rankings, but in Asia and BRICS. “Where we lack right now is the number of foreign students and faculty, and the number of citations,” he said.
But there have been a few things that were left incomplete in Sopory’s tenure, including that of additional hostels. He says clearances will come soon but these will have to be completed by his successor.
Overall, Sopory’s tenure was relatively free of student agitations and teachers’ strikes. “Except for just four trips abroad, I have been in the campus and in touch with students and faculty on a regular basis. My office has always been open for them. They understood my problems and I their compulsions. JNU is a mature campus,” Sopory said.
His term ends in January next year.