Kolkata, Nov 9 (PTI) The Jadavpur University on Thursday said it has invited UGC chairperson M Jagadesh Kumar as its chief guest for the annual convocation to be held on December 24.

JU's officiating vice-chancellor Buddhadeb Sau said that Kumar has agreed to join the programme.

Also Read | Nagaland Assembly Passes Municipal Bill 2023 by Voice Vote With 33% Reservation for Women.

Other than Kumar, the state-run varsity considered the names of ISRO Chairman S Somanath and AICTE Chairman TG Sitharam for the programme, he said.

However, the Jadavpur University Teachers' Association (JUTA) opposed the decision to invite Kumar, alleging that the UGC delayed the granting of the 'institute of eminence' tag to the varsity and also restricted funding.

Also Read | Mumbai Air Pollution: 1,000 Tankers To Spray Water on Roads to Curb Dust Pollution, Maharashtra Govt To Explore Cloud Seeding.

"In the light of such developments, the JU family is aggrieved with the UGC. This sentiment was ignored while inviting the UGC chairman," JUTA general secretary Partha Pratim Roy said.

"Kumar's statements during his stint as the vice-chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University showed that he is close to the party that is in power at the Centre, and JUTA has reservations about it," he said.

A spokesperson of the Students' Federation of India (SFI) said that UGC did not help the varsity with central funds in the last few years.

"However, we hope that the UGC chairman will assuage the grievances of the JU family, and take positive steps to address the issue," he said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)