Professors claim norms flouted for BoS appointments at Savitribai Phule Pune University

The appointments of several members made by the Vice-Chancellor of Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) to the Board of Studies (BoS) of various subjects has come under the scanner. Several professors have complained, in writing, to Maharashtra Governor C Vidyasagar Rao, who is also the Chancellor of Universities, that these appointments were made flouting norms.

The BoS takes decisions on the framing of the syllabus, examinations and evaluation, defines the coursework for research students, among other key functions. Under Section 12(8) of the new Maharashtra Public Universities Act 2016, recently the appointment of members to 15 BoS were announced. There are 60 approved BoS at the SPPU. Each BoS has 10 members, of which six are nominated by the V-C. Earlier, professors had complained about delay in appointments to BoS by the V-C. They had claimed that at all other state universities, the process got over a few months ago.

Finally, however, when the list of BoS for 15 faculties was declared, it hasn’t gone down well with some professors. “First of all, there was no notification, already selected people were called for interviews and, most importantly, criteria for selection wasn’t known. Most shocking part is, criteria mentioned in the Act was flouted while making the appointments. In some cases, people appointed as heads of departments (HoDs) have been appointed as BoS members, which is not allowed,” said a professor, requesting anonymity.

The complaint, a copy of which is with Pune Newsline, claims that a Zoology professor has been appointed as a member of the BoS for Political Science and Public Administration.

V-C Nitin Karmalkar was unavailable for comments. Pro Vice-Chancellor N S Umrani said, “Firstly, let me clarify that this list of appointments is not final and we are still reviewing it. As far as flouting norms goes, like appointing HoDs to BoS, many colleges do not update the profile of staffers in time in the Board of College and University Development portal. Sometimes, people retire or resign as HoD and fresh appointments are made but it is not updated in time and, hence, such confusion could prevail. However, until August 10, the process of verification is on and after that, the final list will be declared. Before that, any mistakes will be rectified.”
News Source (Indian Express)