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| Research comes to stand stillstill in JU's Chemistry Deptt | | | EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Mar 03:
The Chemistry Department's "deteriorating" condition notwithstanding, Jammu University (JU) vice-chancellor (VC), Prof Varun Sahni and his courtiers talk of making the campus a hub of
academic activity and creating an atmosphere conducive for "quality research work".
It seems there is too much talk and not enough work being done on the campus. The JU authorities' assertions have only proved to be starry-eyed and impractical so far as these lack results.The appropriate example in this context could be that of the chemistry department which sans three major equipments -- Powder X-ray Diffractometer, Cryogenic System and Beta & Gama Ray Detectors.
While Powder X-ray Diffractometer is the only equipment available for the determination of structure of molecules, Cryogenic System is used for measuring electrical conductivity of various samples prepared in the department. The third equipment is required for the
study of Beta and Gama rays in nuclear chemistry. All these equipments were very costly and each cost over Rs 60 lakh.The department has virtually become defunct in the absence of these equipments. Also, the research work has come to a standstill.It is not that the department never had them. The department had them, but all of these were taken to ISCAS (Institute of Solid State and Materials Science) of which Prof I B Sharma is the president.ISCAS, formed with the idea of providing a platform to the budding state scientists and scientists from outside the state, is situated on the JU land near the Gujjar Nagar Tawi Bridge.
Since its constitution, it is lying defunct. What to talk of the scientists from outside the state, even JU's Chemistry Department scholars don't have any access to it. The equipments are lying locked there.
Sources in the department alleged ISCAS incharge was not allowing scholars to do their research work in the ISCAS building because of his personal differences with majority teachers of the department.
But it is the student community which is suffering because of these alleged differences.
Sources said as the ISCAS doors were closed on them, scholars were forced to go to Punjab University, Chandigarh, and IIT, Roorkie, to get the tests conducted on the compounds prepared by them.A deputation of 32 scholars of the department called on the VC in
the recent past and requested him to either take over ISCAS or take requisite steps to ensure that its doors were opened for them.
These scholars told The Early Times that the VC returned them with the assurance that he would do something in this regard at the earliest as the matter was already under the active consideration of the university.
They appealed to Prof Sahni to expedite the process of taking over ISCAS so that they could make use of the equipment lying there unused.The scholars said apart from the equipments, chemicals worth lakhs were also lying in the ISCAS lab. |
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