Colleges still to fill principals’ posts

As the May 31 deadline set by the Supreme Court for filling up vacancies for college principals’ posts looms ahead, college managements are still searching for full time principals.

As the May 31 deadline set by the Supreme Court for filling up vacancies for college principals’ posts looms ahead, college managements are still searching for full time principals.

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In December 2008, the Bombay High Court had ruled that no college, private, aided or unaided, could keep its principal’s post vacant. Based on the HC order, the state government had issued a circular to all colleges, asking them to fill up vacant posts of principals by May 31, 2009.

The state circular had warned colleges that if they failed to meet the deadline they would be prohibited from taking in students in first year courses.

But college managements moved the Supreme Court, which on May 29 last year, gave colleges an extension of one year, giving them time till May 31, 2010, to fill up the posts.

Till April, about 45 to 50 per cent of principals’ posts in colleges affiliated to the Mumbai University were vacant with temporary principals handling the charge.

State government sources said that little progress had been made in most institutes and there are still a large number of vacancies that need to be filled.

College managements claimed that they received a nod to advertise for the principals’ post only last week, giving them little time to complete the recruitment process.

“With regard to the University of Mumbai, we have only one college, JBIMS, which has a principal. The other colleges are affiliated colleges and their appointments are not under our purview,’’ said Chandra Krishnamurthy, the in-charge vice-chancellor of Mumbai. The university will take stock of the situation in affiliated colleges on June 1.

Pune University vice chancellor, R K Shevgaonkar, said that the message to fill up principals’ posts had been sent to all the affiliated colleges months ago and that all the managements had initiated the recruitment process.