Academicians want NU to stop defending banned colleges

NAGPUR: It will soon be a year since the vexed issue of 250 banned colleges rocked Nagpur University, bringing it to the verge of collapse. Justice Arun Chaudhari at Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court had on May 3 last year ordered that if colleges were operating without a single regular teacher then admission of students shall be at the risk and cost of VC, pro-VC and registrar.Politics over the issue has not only brought disgrace to the institution but also led to the exit of former VC Vilas Sapkal.
Even as the court is slated to hear a bunch of petitions on the issue on Thursday, senior academicians questioned why NU administration was doggedly defending the 250 erring colleges, even though none of them has complied with the norms to appoint full-time teachers as per sanctioned strength.
Academicians expressed surprise at NU's decision to fight in the court to lift the ban instead of defending the decision. They slammed Sapkal and registrar Ashok Gomashe's move to rope in a senior lawyer, at the cost of general funds collected from students towards exams. The lawyer was specially appointed due to alleged pressure exerted by NU statutory members, including Congress MLC nominee Baban Taywade and Dinesh Agrawal, and Buldhana MLA Chainsukh Sancheti, even though NU had 31 lawyers on its panel.
The academicians believe that since the summer exams are over, these 6,616 illegally admitted students have already lost their academic year, due to their own fault. Moreover, there is no provision to conduct special exams. In such case, NU should appeal to the court to end the case with a rider that the colleges should strictly comply with norms regarding appointing regular teachers and putting in place necessary infrastructure before the next academic session. Acting VC Anoop Kumar refused to comment, saying that the issue was sub-judice.
"It's high time we end this bitter dispute, keeping in mind NU's interests. There is no point pursuing the issue when exams have ended," chancellor's nominee Sanjay Khadakkar said. He too expressed surprised over NU's move to hire a lawyer at high cost to plead a defeated cause. "NU is wasting precious time and money," he said.
Senior academician Neelima Deshmukh added that the issue had brought shame to the institution and NU should permanently ban these 250 colleges. "Wherever I go outside the city, I am flooded with queries regarding controversies in NU. Splurging funds on top lawyers for a wrong cause is also shameful," she said.