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Sinhgad teachers’ protest: Teachers’ body suggests take over of 22 Sinhgad colleges
Earlier, on Friday, the Bombay High Court had passed a stay order on the AICTE’s decision to bar new admissions in 22 colleges run by Sinhgad Technical Education Society (STES). The teachers termed the stay order as positive development.
In order to rescue thousands of students from losing a year, the faculty of Sinhgad group of institutes have decided to take matters in their hands and reopen the colleges. In a letter addressed to All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU), and the Directorate of Technical Education, Maharashtra, the agitating teaching and non-teaching staff of the institutes have requested the regulatory bodies to give them the permission to reopen the colleges and begin classes for the students.
“We have been demanding a change in the management and for a takeover by the government agencies. Through this step we are putting forth a suggesting that we are ready to take over and run the colleges, while the dispute around non-payment of salaries is underway. The students should not suffer due to this dispute and this move is in their favour,” said Mayuresh K Raut, a professor at the Sinhgad Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences. According to him, each of the 22 institutes that were barred by AICTE to take new admissions will have one teacher representative handling the proceedings of the institutes and regular functioning of the classes.
“The students have already lost a lot of time and we will try our best to help them cope up,” he said.
Earlier, on Friday, the Bombay High Court had passed a stay order on the AICTE’s decision to bar new admissions in 22 colleges run by Sinhgad Technical Education Society (STES). The teachers termed the stay order as positive development.
“We are in support of the stay order because such a decision to bar these colleges will have an adverse effect on the students, as many of the teachers might lose their jobs. Also, transferring students from one institute to the other at this stage is extremely dangerous for their career,” said former professor of the institute Sachin Shinde, who had been spearheading the cause. The high court bench comprising justice BR Gavai and justice Colabawalla through the order had offered an ad interim relief to STES, which has been grappling with financial crises.
STES advocate Nitin Dhumal had stated that the educational institute is not able to pay salaries of all employees due to non-receipt of payment from the state government. The teaching and non-teaching staff, having suffered delays in salary payment for nearly 15 months, have now demanded a probe into the affairs of the trust that runs the institutes and a change in management. They have been holding protests for the last one year over the issue of non-payment of salary.
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