Nagpur University hostel students prepare for exams in dark

NAGPUR: Even as examinations are underway, inmates of Nagpur University hostels are having to study in the weak glow of candles, emergency lamps and mobile phones, thanks to apathy of NU officials who failed to pay the electricity bills on time. However, NU officials say SNDL’s failure to log an entry of the bill payments, that were made past the last date, resulted in disconnection.
Inmates staying at NU’s undergraduate hostel at Law College Square claimed that city power franchisee SNDL disconnected the power supply on Sunday as NU authorities didn’t pay the dues even after the last date.
They said when NU could pay staggering amount of Rs 1.20 crore on VC’s appointment from its general funds, why can’t they pay meager bills in time to avoid such problems, particularly during exams.
Surprisingly, registrar Ashok Gomashe was completely unaware of any such development. “It was the duty of the hostel warden to apprise me of the development. I will seek information and let you know. It’s highly unfortunate that such incidents are happening during the exam season,” he told TOI.
Inmates said they were already facing lot of problems in hostels due to lack of maintenance. Even cable TV bills were not cleared for last couple of months that led to its disconnection. The students added that despite repeated pleadings with warden NM Patil, no cognisance was taken.
NU engineer Dattatray Harde told TOI that two bills were outstanding and they had made the payments, but Spanco officials failed to make the entry into their software that may have led to disconnection. “Two bills of Rs 25,000 and Rs 2,500 were already paid. I told them that NU is among big consumers and they should offer flexibility in bill dates, as the amount is cleared through a system. NU Finance Department clears those bills after auditing, which takes time.”
He added that the power supply was restored on Wednesday evening after they went to SNDL’s office and submitted photocopies of paid bills.
SNDL recovery officer Shankar Gaidhane agreed that NU had paid the bills, but was unable to explain on why the power supply was disconnected. “I tried to find out all entries, but it was not clear who had given the orders to disconnect lines. It may be the work of our head office in Civil Lines, as NU’s payment was not updated in the software,” he clarified.