The authority of Chairpersons and the mandate of various statutory Department Committees have of late suffered serious blows because of unwarranted and unjustified interference of University authorities. The rules of seniority, the protocols of academics and other established conventions of the University system are flouted with such regularity that in many departments the teachers have chosen to either abstain away from administrative work or resign from committees. The decisions taken by Departments are reversed arbitrarily. PUTA leadership has taken a serious view of this growing tendency of the arm-twisting of Chairpersons. Recently the members of Board of Studies, School of Mass Communication have expressed their resentment following the sudden cancellation of a meeting convened on the changes in the syllabus. After making inquiries from the University administration PUTA leadership has come to know that at the behest of only one member of the Board of Studies, the meeting was postponed without taking the convener of the meeting into confidence.
PUTA leadership fails to understand as how a Deputy Registrar can cancel or postpone a meeting on his own. If a teacher commits such a lapse, the Establishment leaves no stone unturned in humiliating him/ her, often in full public glare. PUTA leadership also demands that teachers/ professionals who are experts in the subject should only be nominated to exclusively academic bodies such as Board of Studies. The politicization of the academic space spells doom for the future of the environment in the University. Often the University authorities tend either to ignore such complaints or soft-pedal them. PUTA leadership has decided that each act of interference in the day-to-day academic environment of the University would be brought to public notice so that a regime of accountability is put in place.