Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari With hardly a few days left for his tenure to end, a series of controversies have surfaced against the vice-chancellor (V-C) of Mumbai University, Dr Suhas Pednekar. In the latest, members of Yuva Sena have alleged that the V-C has inappropriately approved the perspective plan by holding meetings of different university bodies, even as all had been dissolved last month.
All Mumbai University bodies — Senate, Management and Academic — were dissolved on August 31 and the V-C’s tenure will be over by the end of this month. The perspective plan, which approves locations for new colleges to be set-up under the varsity’s jurisdiction, requires nod from all three bodies. The V-C on Thursday held meetings with administrative officers to approve the perspective plan.
However, the Yuva Sena has now written to Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari asking if he permitted this in his capacity as the Chancellor to all state universities.
“It is a very important decision for students and has been on the cards since July 2022. The V-C continued to delay it and held the meeting only after all bodies had been dissolved. This shows that it was done with some vested interest, keeping elected members of university bodies away from this decision,” said Pradeep Sawant of the Yuva Sena, who was a member of the Mumbai University Senate and Management Council.
The varsity administration, however, denied that the meeting flouted any rule. “The varsity administration had taken the required permission from the Governor of Maharashtra to hold the meeting,” a varsity official said.