JNU Vice-Chancellor terms allegations of irregularities in recruitment a ‘malicious campaign’
JNU Vice-Chancellor Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit has dismissed allegations of recruitment irregularities as a malicious campaign driven by student and teacher unions. The administration claims the recruitment process has been transparent and has significantly increased the representation of marginalized groups.
Why it matters
The dispute highlights ongoing tensions between university administration and faculty/student bodies regarding governance, meritocracy, and political influence in Indian higher education.
Amid calls for her resignation over allegations of irregularities in the recruitment of teachers at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, Vice-Chancellor Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit on Sunday (August 16, 2026) called the allegations a ‘malicious campaign’ run by JNU Students Union (JNUSU) and JNU Teachers’ Association (JNUTA).
“Sections of the media have been running a fake malicious campaign through false, distorted, selective, or unsubstantiated narratives against me. Despite the most transparent, record recruitments, especially of the SC/ST and the OBC, in the University in the last four and a half years of my term as V-C, I have been made the target of a vicious campaign by the JNUSU and JNUTA. No evidence, only fake propaganda,” the Ms. Pandit said.
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