Jadavpur University’s 62nd convocation has been remarkable for the stellar performance of the former President, Mr Pranab Mukherjee. For a distinguished institution that has often been roiled by student unrest and reckless police intervention, it is quite obvious that Mr Mukherjee’s presentation was targeted at the political class as a whole.

Hence the former President’s robust emphasis on “free thinking and a questioning mind”. He has most particularly underlined the need for “education to go beyond the four walls of the classroom’’ not least because the purpose of learning is to prepare the student to countenance the world that exists beyond the campus ~ “Education can transform social misfortune and eliminate the gap that has made our society unequal”. The fineprint of his presentation is that the ruling party’s writ must end at the gates ~ an imperative that must be relevant to all campuses. Mr Mukherjee has utilised the opportunity to remind the authorities that the tradition of Jadavpur University ought not to be given the short shrift; its students are known to have taken up “social issues” vigorously and this tradition needs to be sustained.. without confusing the issue with unrest and gheraos.

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The line between taking up social issues and campus unrest is far too thin to always spare the V-C. Rightly has the former President advanced the caveat that “a university must encourage free thinking, free exchange of opinions and free flow of those ideas without any hindrance. It must play a role in shaping the ideas of a student”. Mr Mukherjee’s paradigm must be anathema to the political class; certain parties ~ from the Right to the Left ~ can be violently active while buttressing their respective campus ideologies.

The convocation was notable also for the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Suranjan Das, putting the University Grants Commission on notice ~ in the presence of its former Chairman, Ved Prakash ~ on the pattern of funding that “favours Central universities at the cost of others”. This is a deeper issue that calls for serious reflection… beyond the cavil at a convocation.

Admittedly, a measure of uniformity is imperative considering that the UGC allocates 65 per
cent of its annual budget to the 47 Central universities, while the 375 state universities have to
make do with 35 per cent. That discrimination must end. Not wholly unrelated is the irritant that arises when the state government ~ as in West Bengal ~ tends to set the terms of engagement after releasing the funds.Autonomy and funding are two very different issues. Overall, Jadavpur University’s convocation on Christmas Eve has gone beyond the customary grandstanding and routine speeches.