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| Watch out; CCTV cameras to keep tabs on VIPs, Academicians, politicians at JU VC's office | | | Syed Junaid Hashmi
Early Times Report
JAMMU, Dec 13: Watch out! The moment you enter in the official chamber of Vice-Chancellor (VC) Prof. R.D.Sharma, you are under the surveillance of high-tech CCTV cameras.
Sources said that the two high-tech CCTV cameras which have audio surveillance microphones attached with them were installed in the chamber of Vice-Chancellor of Jammu University (JU) within days of him assuming the office. They added that Prof. R.D.Sharma had specifically sought CCTV cameras which have audio surveillance microphones.
Of the two cameras, one is right on the head of Vice-Chancellor while the other is on the corner of the Vice-Chancellor's chamber. And the third CCTV camera has been installed in the corridor of the VC's chamber. Sources said that VC has specifically demanded for cameras being installed in his chamber and added that the installation should be done in such a way so that whosoever enters inside the chamber remains under the surveillance of the cameras.
Not only this, the control of the CCTV cameras is with the vice-chancellor only. "He can switch them off and on, according to his own sweet will. What happens elsewhere in the country doesn't happen in Jammu University," said an official. A faculty member of Jammu University said "I have seen some of the best brains of the country heading this prestigious institution of Jammu and Kashmir. But none has ever either demanded or even recommended installation of CCTVs inside their office chambers. This is not a government department but a university where those who visit are either academicians or students. It is absurd to talk to them in the surveillance of cameras."
If you feel, you are the only honest man left on this earth, then you are justified in doing whatever you do to keep yourself honest but if u believe, there are people better than you and have more traits of honesty then you, no one would have felt the need to install cameras, said the faculty member while talking to Early Times. Instead of choosing to keep his chamber under surveillance, the academician said that he should have got cameras installed all over the university.
It needs to be mentioned here that those who visited the office of VC of Jammu University during the last two years included wife of Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, ex-VC and Advisor of Jammu University Prof. Amitabh Mattoo, Ex-VC Prof. Varun Sahni, VC of Central University (CU) Jammu Prof. Amitabh Mattoo, Minister for Forest Choudhary Lal Singh and several other top dignitaries of the state. Their visits have been recorded.
"Every word spoken by them is now in the CCTV recorder of the VC's chamber in Jammu University. The high profile dignitaries probably never knew that they were under the surveillance of CCTV's during their visit. It ill behoves office of vice-chancellor to keep high profile dignitaries as well as students and scholars under the surveillance of CCTV cameras inside his office chamber. It is like father keeping his family under surveillance of CCTV cameras," added another faculty member.
The campus needs surveillance cameras but the same is not being done while the VC has installed CCTV cameras inside his office, said an official. He maintained that there have several instances which call for installing CCTV cameras all over the campus but who cares for the students, scholars and faculty members.
Speaking further, he added, "JU should have by now planned to install the cameras at strategic locations so that the events are recorded and anyone found guilty of misbehavior can be identified and punished. The cameras would have also helped in surveillance during examination. But VC was more worried about his own security than the security and transparency of entire campus"
However, students said that the move was a total invasion of privacy. "This is strange. The campus is not a spy organization or high security military installation to warrant such level of surveillance. And how on earth can one ever think of installing CCTV cameras, especially on a campus where 80 percent of students are women. There are real chances of CCTVs being misused," said a research scholar on the campus. |
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