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AU VC?s missive: Who cares?
THE TREND of taking every small and big matter right to the University Grants Commission (UGC), the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) and even the President of India by the teachers, non-teaching employees and even the students seems to be continuing unabated at Allahabad University (AU). The varsity is at the moment considering its stand over as many as nine such matters that the MHRD has referred to the AU Registrar in January 2006 .
THE TREND of taking every small and big matter right to the University Grants Commission (UGC), the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) and even the President of India by the teachers, non-teaching employees and even the students seems to be continuing unabated at Allahabad University (AU).
The varsity is at the moment considering its stand over as many as nine such matters that the MHRD has referred to the AU Registrar in January 2006 instructing him to take appropriate action and for which the university is still to submit its action taken report.
It is to be recalled that fed up with the tradition of its teachers and employees to pen letters directly to the Centre, the AU Vice-Chancellor Prof Rajen Harshe had in November 2005 held a meeting with all the Deans and the heads of the departments and issued instructions laying out norms in respect to the channel of communication in the university.
The instructions, it seems, have failed to have the desired results. As per the MHRD letter (F.32-1/2005-Desk (U)), the first issue is regarding a letter of Preeti Niraliya, an AU employee, and her transfer to Jabalpur. Strangely, this matter has been received by the MHRD through none other than the General Secretary of All India Congress Committee, Digvijay Singh!
The next matter is about payment of arrears of salary of Rekha Singh working at the Institute of Correspondence Courses and for which she wrote to MHRD on October 21, 2005. An AU student, Nijanand, too has shot off a letter to none other than the President of India in October 2005 about allotment of hostel accommodation and that the Ministry wants the issue investigated by AU.
Similarly, some students of Moti Lal Nehru Medical College have e-mailed the President on November 29, 2005 alleging academic and administrative irregularities at their institution. The President's Secretariat has also been approached by the president of Non-Teaching Employees Council of Ewing Christian College alleging discrimination in the payment of salaries to the employees of the Constituent colleges. Both these issues have to be looked into by the AU Registrar now. Others who have sought the MHRD's intervention include Vidyawati Shukla, widow of a deceased employee of Allahabad Degree College regarding payment of family pension and other dues and Alok Mishra, an AU student, about payment of PG scholarship and contingency grant.
While Dr RC Kesarwani of MLN Medical College has approached the MHRD regarding the date of his superannuation, Dr Suresh Chandra Rai, a Reader at the Iswar Saran Degree College has sought MHRD's intervention regarding alleged irregularities in the appointment of officiating principal in the college. Dr Rai is believed to be unhappy over the appointment of his much junior colleague as principal by the college management. The AU Registrar after receiving the MHRD letter along with the communications concerned in original has forwarded them to Assistant Registrars concerned to look into the matter.
Till Saturday, more than three months after receiving the letter from the MHRD, sources say, AU is still to inform the Centre about the action taken by them in each case.
