Christians have strongly condemned the decision of the government sponsored-the Indira Gandhi Open University (IGNOU) to close down Mother Teresa Chair and has demanded to "not close down" the chair.
"We condemn the reprehensible and in-comprehensive decision of the New Delhi based and Indian Government sponsored Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi to discontinue the Mother Teresa Chair in Health, Education and Social Work which was started with much fanfare in the Christ Jubilee Year 2000," said Dr. John Dayal, the general secretary of All India Christian Council.
The Chair was established in a Memorandum of understanding between the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) and the university in 2000, in memory of Mother Teresa's great contribution to the downtrodden in the country.
According to the university, the decision is based on the recommendations of the board of management (BoM) which approved the guidelines for establishment of chair. According to the new guidelines, each chair should have a sponsor and no chair should be established with university funds.
"We decided to continue with chairs that are sponsored by an outside agency and did not utilise the funds of the university," M Aslam, vice-chancellor of IGNOU, told the Hindustan Times.
Aslam said the chairs that have been discontinued were not functioning for a long time for lack of funds. "I cannot be using the fee of my students to sustain a chair," he added.
The discontinuance of the Mother Teresa Chair comes at a time when there is a global Catholic campaign urging Pope Francis to fast track the canonisation of the Albanian-born Indian-national Nobel Laureate.
Mother Teresa, founder of the Missionaries of Charities order whose religious women and men run orphanages and relief shelters across the globe, is an icon of the age for her espousal of human compassion for the poorest of the poor, for children and for the terminally ill and dying. The blue-bordered sari that the 'Saint of the Gutters' wore, and which her mission Sisters wear, is a universally accepted symbol of these values.
The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) is arguably the largest university in the world with more than 30 lakhs (3 million) students studying in various subjects. It has its main campus in New Delhi and has campuses and study centres all over the country.
All India Christian Council has asked the university not to close down the prestigious chair.
"We call upon the Board of Management of the Indira Gandhi National Open University not to close down the Mother Teresa Chair, but to add to its endowment to further the cause of social work and research," said Dr. Dayal.
