Nagpur: Despite stiff opposition from members, Nagpur University (NU) conducted its online Senate meeting on Wednesday. On November 3, the members had forced NU to adjourn the online meeting and conduct it offline with a view to discuss several crucial issues like the final year online examinations fiasco and fees reduction due to the pandemic.
Many members, including Manmohan Bajpayee, Dhanshri Borkar and Smita Wanjari, boycotted the meeting after NU failed to remove the technical snags they faced in online mode. Some senior members like Baban Taywade and Rajesh Bhoyar also skipped it, making it easier for the administration to conduct it.
According to the members who attended the meeting, it commenced at 11am and concluded by 4pm, as hardly any important issue (the online exams debacle included) was raised, and contentious question asked. In offline mode, such big meetings have a participation of a minimum 50 out of the 76 members, and they usually go on for at least two days, as it takes that long to cover the entire agenda.
When the event was adjourned on November 3, the members had asked the NU administration to seek chancellor Bhagat Singh Koshyari’s consent for holding the meeting offline. But he failed to reply as per the members, who accused NU administration of deliberately not making efforts to convene the offline meeting.
Denying their charges, vice-chancellor Subhash Chaudhari told TOI they received the chancellor’s letter on Wednesday morning, and he advised NU to seek the local administration’s permission.
However, Chaudhari said, “The Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) commissioner had already denied us permission to hold the offline meeting as the government has permitted only 50 persons to congregate due to pandemic-induced restrictions.”
He added that the meeting went off very smoothly with all proposals being cleared with a majority, and about 50 members attended it.
An upset Bajpayee accused NU of suppressing the voice of the members, who had planned to raise important issues like final year exams disaster and fee reduction. “Though I was able to hear their voices clearly, they couldn’t hear me,” he said.
Bajpayee added, “I dropped many messages online and also called registrar Neeraj Khaty many times. But no one responded and even the registrar didn't take my calls, despite his phone continuously ringing on his desk.”
Agreeing with him, another member Vishnu Changde said the NU sent a letter to NMC seeking permission to allow 100 persons, including the members and its officials to attend the meeting. “Obviously, it was going to be rejected as permission is only for 50 persons. Even a child can make out that the administration was reluctant to hold an offline meeting,” he told TOI.
Change added, “In majority of the Senate meetings, hardly 50 out of 76 members remain present. They should have sought permission of 50 members only, while those from other districts could have participated online.”.
Box — Exam fee waiver for poor students: VC
Chaudhari said that NU was considering waiving exam fees for the students whose families suffered due to the pandemic. “After the issue was raised today, we’ve decided to direct colleges to identify students facing financial crunch due to the pandemic and lockdown,” he told TOI.
He added, “If any student lost a bread-earning family member or suffered any other problems and is not able to pay the fees, NU will waive it.”