New Delhi: In a significant development, the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has decided to replace the title head of the institution from Vice Chancellor to Kulguru. The decision was taken at the meeting of the Working Council of the University.
The suggestion for the same was given by Vice Chancellor Shantishree Dhulipudi Pandit. The Vice Chancellor will now be replaced with Kulguru. The decision has been meen made with an aim to make Vice Chancellor post ‘gender neutral’. The decision comes after a similar move in Rajasthan, where the state government introduced the Rajasthan Universities Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2025 in February. The move is aimed at keeping pace with ancient academic traditions.
‘Vice-chancellor’ is called ‘kulguru’ in Rajasthan
‘Vice-chancellor’ is called ‘kulguru’ in universities of Rajasthan. A bill in this regard was passed in the Rajasthan Assembly in March 2025. Deputy CM Premchand Bairwa had said that this is not a change but an attempt to restore the glory of the guru. The bill sought to formally include the words Kulguru and Pratikulguru in place of Vice Chancellor and Pro-Vice Chancellor in all state university laws written in Hindi.
Last year, the Madhya Pradesh cabinet had also passed a similar proposal. In July last year, the Madhya Pradesh government had said in a statement that it was decided that the Vice Chancellor in universities would now be known as Kulguru. These decisions were approved by the state cabinet.
In the meantime, the JJNUTA has expressed concerns over the academic calendar for the 2025-26 year, which was recently released. Starting on Monday, the teachers’ association demanded the immediate withdrawal and restoration of the traditional calendar of the university
