Who Shut The Door?

After the contentious events at the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR), another social science institution, the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), is now the focus of controversy. The liberal arts - crucial disciplines that teach dissent and citizenship - have long been neglected by successive governments. India’s rulers have been obsessed by the natural sciences because of their applicability to the military. Liberal arts institutions suffer severe shortages of money and have become hostage to a culture of mediocrity.

The Centre of the Study of Social Sciences (CSSS), a subsidiary organisation of the icssr, has been threatened with closure because of lack of funds and its director, the well- respected Partha Chatterjee, has resigned. And one of India’s finest literary critics and scholars, Rajeshwari Sunder Rajan, recently had her research proposal on "Indian feminism and the problem of the female domestic servant" rejected by the icssr because it was considered "too feminist".

The largest autonomous government council on social science, the icssr is a behemoth. It is housed in a massive Acropolis-style building standing amidst acres of parks. It has a staff of 250, receives a Plan allocation of Rs 12.90 crore and 27 organisations around the country work under its aegis. Yet in spite of all this grandeur, icssr fellows get fellowships ranging from a miserable Rs 1,800 to Rs 3,000 per month.

The icssr is, admits its chairman M.L. Sondhi, "still in the hands of the old socialist guard who cannot look beyond their noses." According to Sondhi, the icssr remains inhabited by experts from the old socialist years whose minds are closed against new research. "The fact that the icssr has rejected an applicant like Rajeshwari Sunder Rajan shows the place is full of illiterates," says a senior academic.

Sunder Rajan, who has been teaching since 1973, is described as a "brilliant and upright scholar", by Malavika Karlekar, fellow at the Centre for Women’s Development Studies. Urvashi Butalia, publisher and academic, describes Sunder Rajan as "very eminent and well thought of". Sunder Rajan has been visiting professor at the George Washington University, was a Senior Fellow at Teen Murti, has published the acclaimed Real and Imagined Women and The Lie of The Land. Since she was a teacher at Delhi University’s Miranda House college, she has been at the vanguard of those trying to free English Literature from the "Byron-Keats" syndrome and make it more responsive and engaged with political and social issues in this country.

Sondhi acknowledges Sunder Rajan’s brilliance but says that for her to look for an opening in the icssr is like A.P.J. Abdul Kalam trying to get a scholarship at the ndmc. However, Vinod Mehta, acting member secretary of the icssr, says he doesn’t believe Sunder Rajan to be of any worth whatsoever and considers her just a woman obsessed with her own CV. Echoes R.. Saxena, deputy director: "What does it matter if she has gone abroad? Today any and everybody has visited America once or twice." Education secretary M.K. Kaw says that liberal arts research should be action- and policy-oriented to help the government do its job better. It should fulfil a public service. If it does this, then a number of key ministries will become interested in it and provide funds. "But I have a problem with people whose work is so obscure that no one can understand what they have written," Kaw says.

But Sunder Rajan argues that her proposal was not even properly considered. According to practice, the decision on her case was taken by three anonymous referees who had each written a report on her. The referees are all of the rank of professors, yet the reports are perfunctorily written, misspelt and full of grammatical errors. Sondhi defends them by saying Sunder Rajan’s proposal was "Greek" to the old guard at the icssr.

Sunder Rajan is now leaving India to take up a teaching position at the Oxford University. "It seems safer not to publish books and papers," she says sadly. "People are so threatened here that they leave you with no option but to look for opportunities abroad." She says she would never have taken the position had she not been rejected by the icssr.

The message is clear. If India wants to retain its best academics, it’s probably time to ensure that the liberal arts centres begin to open not only their wallets but also their minds.