The only academic Chair for African scholars funded by the government is likely to go vacant for the second consecutive year as the position is not attracting senior African academics due to shortage of funds.
The latest advertisement for the Nelson Mandela Chair at the Centre for African Studies (CAS), JNU, was taken out by the Indian High Commission in Botswana on April 6. However, after more than two months of waiting, the host centre, CAS, is worried that the position may not be filled since the advertisement has not attracted sufficient number of distinguished applicants.
“We could not fill up the post last year as the position offers just Rs. 1 lakh to the visiting academic which is really meagre despite the fact that it is named after Nelson Mandela and is funded by the MEA through ICCR. Given the low honorarium, senior African academics are disinclined to apply for the vacancy and as a result the Chair is slowly fading away,” said Prof. Ajay Dubey, Chairperson, CAS.
The Nelson Mandela Chair, lasting one or two semesters, is the only one such position especially created to promote ties between academics of India and Africa. Under the terms of the Chair, JNU provides office, support staff and accommodation to the visiting academic and the ICCR provides a consolidated monthly payment of Rs. 1 lakh. It also pays a travel grant of Rs. 1 lakh and one single economy class ticket for the visiting scholar. Prof. Dubey said the terms and conditions of the position had become outdated and African scholars find these humiliating.
The Nelson Mandela Chair was created in 1992 after the earlier Chair funded by the UGC named after Kwame Nkrumah was discontinued after eight years. He recalled that not enough was done by the government to popularise the chair and that in the past at least one African academic left abruptly due to the honorarium.
“Last year we had very poor response from African academics due to the issue of salary. We advertised twice but the ICCR could not fill it despite the fact that we agreed to give it to an Associate Professor from Zimbabwe. He finally did not come as he did not find it attractive enough,” said Prof. Dubey, explaining that even Prof. Mahmood Mamdani, famed scholar of African studies, withdrew after showing initial interest due to the terms and conditions of the position.
The main issue, says Prof. Dubey, is that the honorarium for the Nelson Mandela Chair has not been revised in years whereas a revision should normally take place once in five years.
“Often the honorarium of a particularly high profile chair is fixed at the inception. Plus the visiting professors are also expected to receive salaries from their home institutions. As far as the revision of the honorarium is concerned, we will have to assess the new complaints,” an official from the ICCR familiar with the scholarships and academic chairs told The Hindu.
