Gay rights activist Prof R Raj Rao finally made UoP English Department head

Last year Rao complained to V-C of being sidelined for post and alleged discrimination

Ten months. That is how long gay rights activist and professor of English R Raj Rao had to wait for his wish to be fulfilled by the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Pune (UoP). Rao, who is also an acclaimed writer, had complained to the V-C in October of favouritism in his being passed over for the post of head of the English Department.


Wait over: R Raj Rao had in October complained of favouritism in the
appointment of English HoD. File pic

During that period, Avinash Awalgaonkar, then dean of the arts faculty, had been appointed head of the English Department, a move Rao had questioned. Rao's argument was that he had been a part of the department for 22 years and was the most qualified person for the post.

The appointment was also mired in controversy as Awalgaonkar had been the former head of the Department of Marathi and was considered to be an oddity in the English Department. Finally on July 19 this year, V-C R K Shevgaonkar notified in an official circular that he was appointing Rao as head of the English Department.
MiD DAY spoke to Rao, who confirmed the development and said that he had already charted plans for the development of the department. He refused to comment further, stating in an email reply: "I just realized that there's a ban imposed on us from speaking to the press about university matters. Hence I regret that I cannot answer your questions, at least for now."

Despite repeated attempts, Shevgaonkar could not be contacted for comment. University insiders said the post in question had been mired in controversy for a long time and that finally there might be some peace. "First the post was held by a professor from within the English department, that is Bajrang Korde. But he was sacked from the post after complaints by colleagues. Post that, Awalgaonkar was appointed to this post but there was opposition to him from other professors within department as they didn't want an outsider. Finally he asked to be relieved of his duties and Rao has been appointed," said the head of another department, requesting anonymity.

Rao's achievements
R RAJ Rao has authored 10 books and written over 500 articles. He has been with the English Department at the UoP for 22 years. Rao is a recipient of the Nehru Centenary British Fellowship for his post-doctoral research at the Centre for Caribbean Studies, University of Warwick, UK. One of India's leading gay rights activists, he was the one to propose the course on LGBT literature in UoP's English Department. Six poems from his collection were the basis of Riyad Vinci Wadia's path-breaking film, BomGay (1996), India's first gay film. Rao's first novel, The Boyfriend, is among one of India's well-known gay novels.