NALSAR University of Law here has issued India’s “first gender-neutral certificate” with the honorific ‘Mx’ after a student requested it instead of ‘Mr’ or ‘Ms’.
However, the decision had its own controversies with a section of teachers saying the academic bodies of the university have not cleared the move, which, they say, is mandatory for such major changes.
The provisional certificate was issued to Mx. Anindita Mukherjee. But whether the honorific will remain in the final certificate is a question now. The degree has to be signed by the Chief Justice of the High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad for the States of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh as he is the Chancellor.
Several teachers, who wish to remain anonymous, say the Academic Council, comprising High Court judges and Vice-Chancellors of various universities, should have a debate on any major changes to be introduced.
“We don’t even know whether the Chancellor has been informed about it,” a senior teacher says. “There is nothing wrong in accepting a new honorific, but that has to be debated first, more so when we are claiming that it is India’s first such certificate.”
Sources say the University Registrar signed the certificate after Examination Committee Convener Amita Dhanda sent it, along with other certificates, for his signature.