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Jawaharlal Nehru University Vice-Chancellor Santishree D Pandit has rejected reports of an alleged recruitment scam at the university, calling it a "fake malicious campaign."
"Sections of the media have been running a fake malicious campaign through false, distorted, selective, or unsubstantiated narratives," Santishree D Pandit told ANI. The JNU Vice-Chancellor said that despite what she described as the most transparent record of recruitments, particularly of SC/ST and OBC candidates, during her tenure, she had been made the target of a campaign by the JNUSU and JNUTA. "No evidence, only fake propaganda," she said. According to the JNU administration, the university has conducted more than 400 interviews and filled over 200 positions since February 2022, with nearly 70 per cent of the appointments belonging to various reserved and marginalised categories. The administration said the selection process involves a multi-member committee comprising three domain experts selected from panels approved by the concerned Centres or Schools, a nominee of the President of India, the respective Dean, and the Vice-Chancellor. It said the Academic Council approves the names finalised by the selection committee. The administration also said the Internal Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC) verifies candidates' qualifications and publication claims in accordance with UGC rules, while having no role in the final selection during interviews. On the scrutiny of publications, the university said the IQAC uses indexes including Web of Science, Scopus, Impact Factor, and the JNU Academic Index to verify the authenticity and credibility of publications listed by candidates. It said journals not available in these indexes are scrutinised individually. The administration also rejected concerns over familial or marital connections among candidates, saying that being married to someone was neither a qualification nor a disqualification for employment. On Career Advancement Scheme (CAS) promotions, JNU said it had processed close to 250 applications between February 2022 and March 2026, including some that had been pending since 2006. The administration also alleged that confidential documents cited in media reports had been selectively leaked or shared by members of the JNU community for "personal gains and vendetta". Earlier, based on media reports, Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union (JNUSU) alleged corruption in the recruitment process of JNU. "We all at the university have been suffering due to such appointments driven by corruption and RSS-oriented political affiliations. As we exposed earlier this year, corruption under the Vice-Chancellor is all-round. From non-teaching staff recruitment to security guard contracts, corruption has become the default nature of the administration," JNUSU alleged in its statement. (ANI)
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