Newly appointed registrar joins Mumbai university after a stand-off between VC and state government

The first day of the newly-appointed registrar of the University of Mumbai (MU), Ramdas Atram, the former director of Institute of Science, Nagpur, turned into a nightmare, as he was not allowed to take charge of his post, on Friday

The first day of the newly-appointed registrar of the University of Mumbai (MU), Ramdas Atram, the former director of Institute of Science, Nagpur, turned into a nightmare, as he was not allowed to take charge of his post, on Friday. The vice-chancellor Suhas Pednekar awaited the clarity from the state government. The drama ended only at 5pm after the state government clarified and reaffirmed the appointment, following which, Atram officially took over the post.

University of Mumbai.

“Atram was at the vice-chancellor’s office on Friday at 10:30am with his relieving letter from the Institute of Science, Nagpur, and his joining letter approved by the state. Pednekar, however, had written to the state government two days prior, asking them to allow the current in-charge registrar, Baliram Gaikwad to continue on the post, and had asked Atram to go back to his previous post in Nagpur, until there’s clarity,” said a senior MU official on condition of anonymity.

The state government, on January 8, had released a notification confirming the appointment of Atram for the post of the registrar for the University of Mumbai. The post had been lying vacant since July 2020, after the former registrar Ajay Deshmukh passed away. The state government notification states that Atram has been approved for the post of MU registrar for one year only.

However, Pednekar had written to the state government on January 13, asking the government to rethink their decision stating that the current in-charge registrar Gaikwad “has been doing well at the post”, said the letter.

“Pednekar mentioned the good work done by Gaikwad and asked for the government to consider continuing with the same in-charge registrar, instead of bringing someone from another city or university to MU in the middle of the academic year. However, Atram was already relieved of his post as director of Institute of Science (Nagpur) by then, so the government clarified that the new appointment will stay put,” said an official from the state ministry for higher and technical education.

On Friday, while Pednekar waited for the government to respond to his letter, Atram had submitted his documents and the joining report to the concerned MU department as part of his joining process. Clarity on his hiring came only around 5pm.

A spokesperson for the university refuted allegations of a stand-off between Pednekar and the state government. He told HT that the VC was only waiting for a response to his letter before making changes to the current office.

“Atram was not asked to leave the university, he was only asked to delay the joining until the government responds to VC’s letter. Once the clarification from the state government came through, Atram immediately took over the post of registrar of MU,” said the MU spokesperson.