LU will not host Indian Science Congress in 2024

Lucknow: The Lucknow University (LU) has announced that it will no longer host the 2024 edition of the Indian Science Congress (ISC) owing to a legal dispute between the government and the organiser.

The annual conference was earlier scheduled to take place in January 2024.

LU vice-chancellor Prof Alok Kumar Rai said: “The difficult decision has been taken due to a combination of recent events and the ongoing legal disputes that have made the successful execution of the conference untenable.”

The LU was entrusted with the responsibility to host the annual conference by the Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA) in March this year.

In May, the Department of Science & Technology (DST) of the Centre, convened a meeting with the general president of the ISCA and the LU-V-C to discuss the terms and conditions for the ISC conference.

On June 5, the department of science and technology (DST) issued a formal letter to the university stipulating that all decisions related to the technical sessions of the conference would be overseen by a high-level committee constituted by the department DST, the university said.

Responding to the DST letter, the ISCA general secretary wrote to the LU in July asserting that all decisions regarding the conduct of the conference shall remain under the purview of the ISCA.

The legal dispute that subsequently unfolded between the ISCA and the DST led to a court case filed by the former.

The ISCA filed a writ petition against DST’s intervention in its bylaws and related matters.

“Given the complexity of the situation and the ongoing legal conflict between ISCA and DST, the University of Lucknow has regrettably opted to withdraw from its role as the organiser of the ISC conference,” said the vice-chancellor.

The varsity had hosted its first ISC conference, which was inaugurated by the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, in 2002.