Two years on, Mumbai University yet to set up archaeology department

Two years since the University of Mumbai (MU) announced a new department of archaeology, the varsity is yet to set it up. Meanwhile, the Masters of Arts (MA) in

Two years since the University of Mumbai (MU) announced a new department of archaeology, the varsity is yet to set it up. Meanwhile, the Masters of Arts (MA) in Archaeology course at MU continues to suffer from no full-time faculty members and a cut in funds.

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In May 2017, MU’s then vice-chancellor, Sanjay Deshmukh, had announced a new course in MA in Archaeology to be run by the new department. While the department is yet to be set up, the course is being run by the Centre for Extra-Mural Studies (CEMS).

Officials from MU were unavailable for a comment at the time of going to press.

In 2017, the CEMS received a grant of ₹5 lakh for the course. This was cut down to ₹3 lakh in 2018. “Without proper funds, it is difficult to maintain the quality of the course. As part of an MA in Archaeology, it is necessary for students to participate in excavation, but we don’t have the funds for that,” said one of the visiting faculty members of CEMS. For the past two years, students are being taken to an excavation site with students of Deccan College in Pune.

The dearth of permanent faculty members has been further detrimental to the course. Presently, the course is run by one in-charge director, one ad-hoc faculty member and a host of visiting faculty. “The course is not aided; it is self-financed. So all the fees received from students are exhausted in paying the visiting faculty. After that, there’s hardly anything left for infrastructure and other work,” said another official at the CEMS.

CEMS in-charge director Meenal Katarnikar said, “MU has asked us details of the infrastructure and faculty required for setting up a department. We are hopeful that the department will be formed soon.”

As for the faculty shortage, Katarnikar said, “The state government has put a blanket ban on any permanent appointments. As soon as the ban is lifted, we can appoint faculty members.”

Kurush Dalal, a former ad-hoc faculty and current visiting faculty at the CEMS, recently refused MU’s offer to continue as a contract employee as he said the university offered him a lower pay scale than before. “This is emblematic of a larger problem that the university doesn’t value its faculty members,” said Dalal.