Amidst exam results mess, Mumbai varsity VC goes on leave

Amidst the huge mess due to delayed examination results, University of Mumbai Vice Chancellor Sanjay Desmukh suddenly proceeded on leave on Wednesday, officials said.

In his place, Vice Chancellor Devanand Shinde of Kolhapur's Shivaji University has been given the additional charge of University of Mumbai, a Raj Bhavan notification said on Wednesday evening.

Additionally, in a bid to arrest the examination results crises, Governor C.V. Rao on Wednesday appointed Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (VJTI) Director Dhiren Patel as Acting Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Mumbai and specifically assigned him to clear up the delayed results mess.

"Dhiren Patel will look after the work of University, in addition to his own duties as Diretor of VJTI. He will hold the post of Pro-VC till the completion of the work of declaration of results of the various exams held by the University in March-April this year or for a maximum period of three months, whichever is earlier," said a statement.

The fast-paced developments came against the backdrop of the crises of scores of examinations results getting delayed by several months, putting a question mark on students' further education and prospects in foreign universities.

The state Congress has strongly criticised the chaos in the examination department and demanded the Governor's resignation besides sacking of Education Minister Vinod Tawde and Higher & Technical Education Minister Ravindra Waikar for the university's lapses.

Earlier, in an unprecedented step on July 4, Rao had summoned Deshmukh and ordered him to ensure that all results were declared by July 31, which was extended, but still many results are pending declaration.

The Governor had also appointed an independent officer to monitor the results' progress and report daily and ordered Deshmukh to set up a "war room" at his level to ensure declaration of results on time and submit daily progress report to Raj Bhavan, but the measures failed to produce the desired results.

The Governor's ire was prompted by complaints that as of first week of July, out of 477 examinations conducted by the university, results of only 51 were declared.

As per the Universities Act, the university is mandated to declare examination results within 30 days and in no case beyond 45 days.

"While appointing the (current) Vice Chancellor, persons with more experience and qualifications were bypassed to appoint Deshmukh, merely because he is well connected with the RSS and had spent three years with RSS think tank Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini," Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant had said in a statement 10 days ago.

"As a 'guru-dakshina', the incumbent VC has accorded Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini the status of a research associate institute, and in future, it would award top degrees like M.A in Political Science and even doctorates," Sawant pointed out.

He condemned the VC for "wilfully" ignoring the administration of the university affairs, owing to which the future and careers of lakhs of student was now at risk with results not being declared as per schedule.

--IANS

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