India
Mumbai University Graduate Elections: Mumbai University graduate elections pending; no clarity yet on budget meeting of senate | India News
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MUMBAI: With the onset of the new year, elected senate members of the Mumbai University are lamenting over the fact that they have lost over a year and not participated in any business or important decision-making process of the running of the varsity.
The tenure of the last senate ended in August 2022 before being dissolved. Graduate elections that will fill the last 10 seats, are yet pending and there is no clarity on whether the budget meeting of the senate that takes place each year in March will be conducted or not. Senate members from the teachers’ constituency and principals’ group have demanded that the budget meeting take place even if representatives from the graduate constituency are missing.
“We feel the university authorities are delaying the elections of the graduate constituency so that the all-important budget meeting of March is not attended by the full house. After our election results in July 2023, we have just been twiddling our thumbs. The senate ensures democratic working of the university and the current authorities are just not interested in that,” alleged a member from the teachers’ constituency.
“It was expected that a meeting should have taken place in October 2023. Now, our fear is that with no graduate elections, they may not call us for the March senate meeting either, that will be a serious lapse,” said senate member Chandrashekhar Kulkarni.
The university is expected to hold at least two senate meetings a year, one was held in March 2023 and instead of October, the second one was advanced to June 2023, interestingly, a month before the teachers and principals were elected. In that meeting, the varsity’s perspective plan was approved, skill-based syllabi were passed and the audit report was placed.
The senate is made of 68 members, of which a total of 41 come through elections; the others are either nominated or appointed. The university senate takes up crucial issues of college approvals, fees, university budgeting, student intake, etc. “Without a full senate, the university business is being run by a truncated senate who are largely ‘yes-men’ of the current powers that be,” said another member from the teachers’ constituency.
So, explaining further, he added, of the full tenure of 5 years, “we have already lost a year and a half.” The tenure for the new senate begins as soon as the earlier one’s time ends as nominees from various quarters including those of the chancellor are immediately sent and a truncated senate stays in charge till all the elections are conducted.
The tenure of the last senate ended in August 2022 before being dissolved. Graduate elections that will fill the last 10 seats, are yet pending and there is no clarity on whether the budget meeting of the senate that takes place each year in March will be conducted or not. Senate members from the teachers’ constituency and principals’ group have demanded that the budget meeting take place even if representatives from the graduate constituency are missing.
“We feel the university authorities are delaying the elections of the graduate constituency so that the all-important budget meeting of March is not attended by the full house. After our election results in July 2023, we have just been twiddling our thumbs. The senate ensures democratic working of the university and the current authorities are just not interested in that,” alleged a member from the teachers’ constituency.
“It was expected that a meeting should have taken place in October 2023. Now, our fear is that with no graduate elections, they may not call us for the March senate meeting either, that will be a serious lapse,” said senate member Chandrashekhar Kulkarni.
The university is expected to hold at least two senate meetings a year, one was held in March 2023 and instead of October, the second one was advanced to June 2023, interestingly, a month before the teachers and principals were elected. In that meeting, the varsity’s perspective plan was approved, skill-based syllabi were passed and the audit report was placed.
The senate is made of 68 members, of which a total of 41 come through elections; the others are either nominated or appointed. The university senate takes up crucial issues of college approvals, fees, university budgeting, student intake, etc. “Without a full senate, the university business is being run by a truncated senate who are largely ‘yes-men’ of the current powers that be,” said another member from the teachers’ constituency.
So, explaining further, he added, of the full tenure of 5 years, “we have already lost a year and a half.” The tenure for the new senate begins as soon as the earlier one’s time ends as nominees from various quarters including those of the chancellor are immediately sent and a truncated senate stays in charge till all the elections are conducted.
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