Trouble at the Centre of Excellence: Why Jadavpur University remains on the boil? Premium

Jadavpur University faces loss of Institute of Eminence status due to budget cuts amid political turmoil and protests.

On March 12, the Minister of State for Education Sukanta Majumdar informed the Parliament that Jadavpur University is set to lose the status of Institute of Eminence (IoE) due to a fall in budgetary allocation. Mr. Majumdar, who is also West Bengal BJP president in response to a question by another BJP MP Samik Bhattacharya mentioned that the Empowered Experts Committee (EEC) considered the revised proposal of the Jadavpur University and observed that there was a steep decline in the budget from the earlier projected amount of ₹3,299 crore to ₹606 crore. Such a steep decline in the budget was not conducive to realise the target set for the IoE Institutions.

While the question was raised and replied to by two senior BJP leaders from West Bengal, the development could not have come at a worse time. Jadavpur University, the highest-ranked university in West Bengal, has been on the boil over the past three weeks. 

Days before the start of the new academic session, violence erupted at the university when West Bengal State Education Minister, Bratya Basu, came face to face with a group of students on March 1. The students who had blocked the Minister’s car were demanding that the student’s union election be held at the university. After a commotion for a few minutes, the Minister’s car drove over the protesting students and some protesting students came under the wheels of the Minister’s car.

While the protests and blocking of the Minister’s convoy was not something new at the state-run university, the fact that the wheels of the Minister’s car injured students was unprecedented. For more than two weeks the university witnessed protests and academic activities remained suspended. Nine FIRs have been registered, eight of which against students and one at the instruction of the Calcutta High Court against the Minster, his driver, and another professor at the university.

Set up in 1955, Jadavpur University is considered an outcome of the country’s freedom movement and is the highest-rated university in West Bengal, which till decades ago boasted of top-rated educational institutions in India. As per the latest National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) ranking by the Ministry of Education released in August 2024, Jadavpur University ranked at the ninth position across the country on the list of universities. The university has excellent humanities, science and technology professors and has several interdisciplinary schools and centers that are engaged in inter-disciplinary research.

It is not only politics and protests but also fund constraints that are hampering the development of the university. The Jadavpur University Teachers Association (JUTA) has raised the question that ₹1 crore was crowdfunded for applying for the IoE status. JUTA in a statement in January 2025 said that the university spent ₹34.97 crore from its coffers for “non-salary maintenance-related expenditures” and it will have to borrow funds in future if the situation continues.

The university is completely dependent on State funding and has missed the opportunity to generate resources through self-financing courses or other means like engaging with its vast alumni network. With no central funds in sight and the state government stressed of funds due to other financial commitments such as cash incentive schemes for women and children, the JU might have to grapple with funds crunch for a while.