Established in 1947 in Jaipur, the University of Rajasthan has been a proud centre of higher education not only in the state but in the entire north India. The University has made many contributions to the country in education, research, leadership and civil services. The students from here have earned prestige in every field of the country and society. But in the last few years, both the condition and direction of this historic institution have been getting distorted. It is not the single party but the government, the university vice-chancellor, the administration, the teachers and the students themselves, all of us are responsible. 

The university, which was once a symbol of India’s intellectual pride, is today in the grip of neglect, disorder and mistrust. The dialogue has ended, trust has been shattered, and an unspeakable pause has gripped the entire academic atmosphere.  On 25 September 2023, when the University of Rajasthan appointed the first woman Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Alpana Kateja was welcomed, the entire university family was filled with a new hope. But reality brutally shattered this hope.  On July 26, 2024, for the first time in the history of the university, the girl students were banned by the magistrate on a bond of Rs 5000 that they would not disturb the peace. His “crime” was that he had staged a demonstration at the Vice-Chancellor’s residence to protest against the mess fee hike and mismanagement in hostels. 

Is this what was expected of the university’s first woman vice-chancellor? Imagine,  when the magistrate’s summons reached the homes of the girl students who had come from rural areas with the dream of higher education, what would have happened to their families? How would he have explained to his parents why this summons had come?  And what would the society and the neighbourhood have said? 

Another major issue related to the same Vice-Chancellor came to the fore when research scholars were expelled from the hostel despite about  80  seats being vacant, saying that rules are bound by the rules. All this happened when the Vice-Chancellor himself promised to get him admission by taking an affidavit. But that promise turned out to be just a bluff. 

The gap between the claims of women’s empowerment by the administration and the reality is very deep. And this deep chasm began to sting even more when expectations were from a woman leader. Half the population probably does not expect as much from a male Vice-Chancellor as from a female Vice-Chancellor.  A university thrives only when it ensures free expression of ideas, open dialogue, and participation of all stakeholders. This has been the tradition of Rajasthan University to communicate between the Vice-Chancellor and the students, and when it was broken, the student leaders used to play the role of that bridge. But today, the situation has been completely reversed. The Vice-Chancellor, teachers, students and staff are not communicating with anyone. A power-centred command-control system has been established, in which communication has been replaced by fear, suspicion and distance. 

Recently, the UGC  rules were openly violated in the PhD entrance examination. There was a large-scale fraud, which shattered the dreams of hundreds of deserving students. Students and student organisations continued to protest for several days, but the Vice-Chancellor did not think it necessary to communicate with them openly.  Syndicate member Shri Gopal Sharma had rightly said in the Assembly: “If the Vice-Chancellor of the University cannot meet her own children, if the girls sit on a hunger strike all night, then what kind of ‘guru’ is there?? Can any mother see her children in this state?”

Examples of insensitivity, such as the incident of student Vikas Yadav drowning on a bridge, or the suicide of a student in the girls’ hostel, the silence and insensitivity of the administration were clearly visible in every incident. But this was not our Rajasthan University! Contractual workers get a salary of just ₹10,000 per month. When they raised their voices, their leaders were thrown out.  It is also clear from the correspondence of the RUTA vice-president that the dialogue with teachers has almost ended. The Vice-Chancellor’s administrative style has made the University an institution where no one can ask questions, no one can criticise, and where, instead of dialogue,  there is order, control instead of leadership. 

In the Rajasthan University administration, where there was a culture of humility, responsibility and participation, now the tendency to arrogance, misuse of position, and harassment of those who oppose it has taken root. The protest somehow hurts the spirit of the administration, and then, every time, the police machinery is resorted to. The situation looked even more frightening when the administration ignored the talk of the government’s representative legislators. After all, what dictatorial arrogance is it that becomes even greater than the unanimous interest of the university?

July 21 saw the peak of this arrogance and lack of communication. The standoff between the Vice-Chancellor and the students continued for 6 hours only because the students wanted to give a memorandum with some of their demands, and the Vice-Chancellor flatly refused to accept the memorandum. Imagine, in a university, that even the normal medium of communication is rejected. 

Even though the name of the Vice-Chancellor has now been changed to ‘Vice-Chancellor’,  the declining prestige and dignity of the post is no longer a secret. If those responsible had not only focused on filling the briefcase but focused on the interest of the university, then Rs  2.5  crore from RUSA-2.0 released in 2021 would not have lapsed just like that. Now, by September 30, even  Rs 15 crore would not have to lapse.  If the administration had paid attention to its responsibility, the Constitution Park, built at a cost of crores, would not have been inaugurated by the Governor with  10-12 mistakes. The Constitution is not flouted. Nor would the government have been humiliated at the national level. From the construction of the Constitution Park within the University of Rajasthan to the construction of a library,  a multi-crore MoU from a private company in Kolkata,  and a big tender in the name of e-books, serious apprehensions of corruption and irregularities have surfaced at every level. 

There was also a large-scale disturbance in the appointment of security guards. The arbitrariness of the administration reached such an extent that trees were cut in a planned manner to illegally occupy the valuable land of the university, breaking the boundary wall and installing private gates. All this happened on a campus that was once considered sacred academic ground. The situation today is that meritocracy has been sidelined, flattery has taken over, and everyone in the administration has started thinking  of themselves as “Aham Brahmasmi”, “I am everything, no one can harm me.”

But the end of the extremes is certain. This confusion was shattered on the evening of 28th May when the Hon’ble Governor, Shri Haribhau Bagade,  constituted a High Level Committee to inquire into the serious allegations of corruption, administrative failure, and financial irregularities against the Vice-Chancellor. This is a clear indication that tolerance has been crossed, and accountability will now be fixed. It can now be hoped that this inquiry committee will submit its report soon and that the Governor will take a tough but just decision in the interest of the university. 

Today’s students of Rajasthan University have come to believe that there has been a radical change in the institution after seeing good paintings. In fact, either he is delusional, or he has some form of fear, insecurity and repression that prevents him from speaking out.  A university is a place where new ideas spring, where social and political reforms begin, and where students are prepared to be the watchdogs of democracy’s future. But there is a deep silence today. From student union elections to the decline in participation against corruption, the voting percentage in student union elections has been dismal.  Student participation has weakened on issues such as the resumption of elections, protests against the irregularities of the administration, or the policy failures of the university.  Seeing this inaction, the administration becomes more dominant. They feel that no one is going to protest.