Mumbai university elections will be delayed by two to three months, say officials

Varsity to request the state to defer elections as the law requires it to constitute all statutory bodies by November 30

Elections for the University of Mumbai’s (MU) statutory bodies will be delayed by at two to three months, as the institution is trying to bring its house back in order after the assessment mess, said varsity officials.

An MU official said that the varsity will continue to function with the help of ad hoc governing bodies comprising university officials and nominated members. (HT File)

While the university is ready with drafts of electoral rolls for various constituencies that participate in the elections — university graduates, teachers, principals and college management — they will not be published immediately. The university will also request the state to defer the elections, as the law requires the varsity to constitute all the statutory bodies by November 30.

“Holding elections is a very elaborate exercise. We would need to focus all our efforts towards the electoral process, if elections are declared. Currently, we have more pressing issues at hand,” said a high-ranking MU official.

Every non-agricultural public university functions through various governing bodies, which are responsible for making policies and taking important decisions on administrative and academic matters. For the past two years, the university has been working without full-fledged governing bodies — owing to the state ban on elections. While the ban was lifted when the state introduced a new law to govern the public universities, Maharashtra Public Universities Act 2016, the delay in holding elections means that the varsity will have to work with ad-hoc bodies.

While a few other state universities managed to hold elections, the MU has been struggling to function normally after vice-chancellor (V-C) Sanjay Deshmukh was sacked for the results mess.

An MU official said that the varsity will continue to function with the help of ad hoc governing bodies comprising university officials and nominated members. The acting V-C, Devanand Shinde, has decided to nominate members for these bodies on a temporary-basis.

“While the term of nominated members is five years, the new full-time V-C should be able to make his or her own appointments,” said the official.