Issue of abolition of posts raises much heat

mysore: vice chancellor of mysore university prof. s.n. hegde who presided over the senate meeting on friday had a tough time controlling a senate member jayaram killara from mandya who fired a series of questions at him. he wanted to know the reason for the vice chancellor deciding to withhold his assent on draft statutes relating to abolition of some irrelevant and unnecessary posts held by senior professors and readers of the university.his contention was that while the mysore university was facing a financial crisis, there was no need to take such an insipid step. at the meeting jayaram vehemently opposed the decision of the vice chancellor in this regard. interestingly, the university authorities claim they pay only rs 500 per month for the extra responsibility assigned to them, apart from the salary. as jayaram repeatedly pleaded for an answer from the v-c, the members tried to snub jayaram stating they were running out of time. jayaram, however, refused to comply and demanded an answer from him. earlier, jayaram sought an explanation from the v-c on reasons for obtaining overdrafts to the tune of rs 2 crore from the state bank of mysore. he also questioned the intentions of the finance committee for maintaining the fixed deposits in many other banks and claiming overdraft only at state bank of mysore. to this, prof. s.n. hedge replied there was no statute which said they had to open an account only at a particular bank. however, jayaram was not happy with the answer. but he asked the reason for the university obtaining overdrafts to the tune of rs 2 crore and paying interest up to rs 9 lakh for the loan. in the meantime, a senior senate member dr mahadev intervened and explained that the university had not been getting grants from the government and hence were forced to obtain overdraft to pay the salaries. another senate member d.j. krishne gowda said the vigilance squad constituted by the university to check malpractices should hereafter have full time or permanent lecturers. he said, there had been complaints from the colleges, particularly from jss that most of squad members behaved rudely with the principals and invigilators in the examination centres and hence the students panicked. meanwhile, k.n. udaya kumar, registrar (evaluation) added, in case the squad were asked to inform the college authorities before they conducted the checks news passed on to the inviligators and the students became alert. this was why the squads were instructed not to seek permission from college authorities. to another question by gurunanjaya about the university's steps in conserving the kukkarhalli lake, the vice chancellor said the university will shortly sign a memorandum with some noted environmentalists and naturalist to conserve the kukkarhalli lake in the university premises.