Probe panel blames NU PhD regn process for harassment

Nagpur: After granting a clean cheat to Nagpur University’s Hindi department head, the probe panel has blamed the NU’s PhD registration process for alleged harassment to the students.
The panel under retired family court judge Meera Khadakkar mentioned in its findings that though nothing was found in the harassment complaints by two girls against the NU teacher, it came to fore during investigations that "the PhD registration was troublesome”.
“The complainants may have to face troubles due to administrative difficulties faced by the NU administration in the last couple of years (due to Covid-19 pandemic). However, NU must try to bring out total transparency, so that such complaints should be avoided,” the report said.
A copy of the report is with TOI. The panellists have asked NU to strictly follow rules. “The administration should not take important aspects of research projects lightly. The centre in-charge, research guides and other stakeholders involved in the PhD registration process should behave like parents with the students.”
As reported by TOI on May 6, the panel concluded that the serious allegations made by two students and their guide lacked reality and NU should take appropriate action.
The panel flayed the Hindi teacher for asking the students to deposit the amount for participating in the seminar in another teacher’s account, which was reported by TOI. The members did not recommend any punitive action against the teacher and suggested that “he should take necessary care in future”.
The panel also criticized him for making it mandatory for the students to participate in the faculty development programme (FDP). “As per the policy, such programmes are optional for the students. It however came to light that the teacher did not force the complainants to pay money for the seminar,” the report said.