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.
On Thursday (August 13, 2026), following the allegations against Ms. Pandit, JNUSU and JNUTA demanded her resignation. The unions had alleged that rules regarding appointments, promotions, and housing allotments were applied arbitrarily based on personal or political-ideological affiliations rather than merit or standardised seniority norms (for instance, bypassing the established rotation system for appointing deans and chairpersons).
‘Left-leaning figures’
“The media story (‘Friendly Hires’ by The Reporters’ Collective) is a malicious campaign by disgruntled left-leaning JNUTA figures based on selective interpretation of UGC Regulations and JNU practices. It is a political campaign to embarrass the University and, through it, the Government of India, especially in the wake of defeats in the Delhi HC involving two hardcore Urban Naxal cases,” the JNU administration said in a statement on Sunday (August 16, 2026).
It claimed that since February 2022, JNU had conducted over 400 interviews and filled over 200 positions, the largest in its history. “A vast majority of them (nearly 70%) belong to various reserved and marginalised categories. No complaint has been received from any candidates regarding the interviews,” it added.
Published - August 16, 2026 10:10 pm IST