UGC Circular on Conduct Rules

Why in news?

The University Grants Commission, in a recent circular, directed central universities to follow Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules 1964 on the conduct of faculty.

What does it imply?

• The Conduct Rules forbid civil service officers from expressing any view critical of the government or its policies.
• The circular means that university teachers will also now not be able to express their views freely.
• E.g. Prominent economists at central universities must be silent on the Food Security Act being economically unsound.
• Historians may not question the official version of history even if it is riddled with problems and falsehoods.
• Environmental scientists questioning environmental/forest policy would risk being in violation of the Rules.
• No professor can raise her voice against a government overlooking growing vigilantism.
• They cannot get involved in any political activity, strike work or even publish without the permission of the government.
• The Rules will prohibit university teachers from speaking to the media, even anonymously or pseudonymously.
• Implementing Conduct Rules in central universities will thus rob universities of free exchange of ideas and critical analysis which are, in fact, critical to an intellectual arena.

Why is the decision contentious?

• Roles - The civil services and academia at the universities vary greatly in essence, function and their respective roles.
• The civil service’s cooperation (loyalty) is crucial to the implementation of the government’s executive decisions.
• But this is not really the case when it comes to university professors’ cooperation.
• Autonomy - The central universities are guided by their respective Acts of Parliament and their own statutes and ordinances.
• The Acts are diverse precisely because they are meant to preserve the institutional and functional autonomy.
• The UGC plays a regulatory role, but it is also tasked with protecting and furthering the autonomy of central universities.
• Legal - University professors “are neither members of a service nor do they hold a civil post under the Union nor they are in the service of local or other authority”.
• This was clearly stated by the Allahabad High Court in its ruling in 2015.
• All these roles and legalities stand in contradiction to the recent circular of UGC which seems to be behaving more as the Centre’s messenger.

Source: Financial Express