Jamia's first women VC advises staff to avoid discrimination among students

Jamia Millia Islamia's first woman Vice-Chancellor Najma Akhtar has urged varsity staff to ensure that they pass no comments on students' clothing, complexion, race or religion. Addressing the members of the teaching and the non-teaching fraternity Monday, Professor Akhtar underlined the need for updating the existing courses, overhauling outdated ones and opening new courses in sync with contemporary demands.

"Growth and development of an institution has two dimensions — consolidation and expansion. We must try to consolidate what we already have, update and tone up programmes that have been running and overhaul those that are outdated and lagging behind," she said.

Akhtar said JMI is a gender-sensitive institution and right from its inception, it has embraced the idea of co-education and healthy mixing and growth of both genders. "Let us do nothing or make no such utterances that can be even remotely be interpreted as disrespectful or derogatory to women," she cautioned.

Staff members should not make any comments on a student's clothing, complexion, race, place of origin or religion, Akhtar said. "Women empowerment will be a special focus of the current administration," the vice-chancellor said, adding, "let us all cultivate common virtues of humanity and cosmopolitanism."

(With inputs from agencies.)