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Pune’s alumni challenge minister Javadekar’s observation, say alma mater’s bowl is filled
Student unions and alumni associations claim that funds for institutions are never an issue in the city
Union minister for human resources development (HRD), Prakash Javadekar’s ‘begging bowl’ comment has raised more than a few eyebrows at academic institutions in the city.
His statement, that educational institutes should utilise alumni associations for financial support instead of coming to government with a “begging bowl”, has student unions and alumni associations claiming that funds for the alma mater are never an issue in the city.
HT visited three academic institutions in Pune, among the oldest and most reputed, to see if the reality was as perceived by the HRD minister.
During an event at a city school last week Javadekar had said, “Schools like Jnana Prabodhini have rightly utilised their strong alumni base, and other institutions should take their example and strengthen their alumni associations for industry experience and funds, instead of coming to the government with a bowl seeking help.”
He stated that alumni who have excelled in respective fields serve as important source of funds and industry experience, valuable for the school or institution’s academic and infrastructural betterment.
Subhash Deshpande, secretary of Jnana Prabodhini, said: “We have a prominent satellite groups of alumni, who not only help us financially, but also in academics by providing special lectures for the students. A good alumni base helps the institute be more independent, as it is not relying anymore completely on government funds.”
As a latest example, Deshpande said, “Using funds from its alumni association the school has installed solar panels worth Rs 10 lakh on campus in 2017.”
Another school with a strong alumni base is St Vincent’s high school, where the alumni association, Vincent’s old boys association (Voba) is now involved in a multi-crore project for the school.
Remus D’cruz, an alumni association member, says VOBA has been taking steps to improve the sports infrastructure of the institute. Under the project, the Fr Oesch hall - an indoor hall - will be completely re-done with a project tag of Rs 1 crore. Then, an outdoor Olympic running track will encircle state-of-the-art main pitch for football and hockey - Rs 2 crore.
“This is part of the St Vincent’s Sports vision, whereby authorities plan to bring international level facilities for sports in the institute. Growth of an institute should not stop relying on government funds. Alumni network is surely a boost for any institute not just in terms of funds but also experience and career enrichment for the current students,” said D’cruz.
Similarly, colleges also have benefited largely from alumni contributions.
College of Engineering Pune (COEP) is currently building a high-end laboratory at the Electrical engineering department which will have equipment worth Rs 2 crore donated by the alumni association.
Also, Hella India Automotive has donated Rs 80 lakh in total for two laboratories - the Frugal Innovation laboratory in the department of Electrical engineering and for the Texas Instrument’s Centre of Excellence in the department of Electronics and Telecommunication engineering. “While the alumni association largely concentrates on aiding research and academic excellence at the college, the infrastructural development is mostly done on an individual level donation by alumnus,” said Prof Pratap Raval, member of the association.
On Sunday, the HRD ministry clarified Javadekar’s statement. “Two days ago, there was a misunderstanding regarding a comment I made at a school function in Pune, where my comment was misinterpreted.I did not mean that the government will not spend on education and that only the former students should spend it. The current Modi government with almost 70 per cent of its spending towards education, shows that we want to continue expenditure towards education. A the same time, what I wanted to imply is that the alumni should also contribute to alma maters. Having said that, I realise that the use of the term, ‘begging bowl’ was wrong and hence, take it back,” said Javadekar.
