Look before you leap towards engineering

Mumbai University

Don't rush to sign up for engineering at your preferred college, even if it's been your dream. Several city colleges battling a plethora of issues since ages, the most pressing among them being teachers not getting their salaries for nearly eight months, have been forced to consider shutting down.

The serious case of salaries
The much-awaited two-day Mumbai University Senate began yesterday, discussing several issues, including the troubled state of engineering education. Presented by teachers' representatives, the niggling issue of pending pay has resulted in lectures being stopped in several colleges, with many unable to even conduct exams. "The issue of unpaid salaries is a very serious one. It is bound to have an impact on the teaching process," said Prof Vaibhav Narawade.

"At Saraswati Engineering College in Kharghar, teachers have been waiting for their salaries for the last eight months, whereas at Tasgaonkar College in Karjat, this wait has been over 10 months, with several teachers and other staff asked to leave as well. And this is causing stress to students also, as they are clueless whether exams will be held or not." Pointing out several other flaws, Narawade demanded an inquiry into the matter.

Committee to probe issue
After several Senate members supported the motion presented, MU took cognisance of the issue and said a high-level committee would be formed to study it and recommend solutions. Dr Devanand Shinde, acting vice-chancellor of MU, who was chairing the meeting, said, "Considering the serious nature of the issue, a committee comprising members from all forums of the varsity will be formed and submit its report in a month. Meanwhile, different possibilities will be checked on how to resolve the exam issue of Tasgaonkar College."

The other issues discussed included problems plaguing MU's examination section. Several Senate members raised objections on how the same tech company continues to work for the varsity even after goofing up with the online evaluation process at such a huge level. It was also recommended by many that the responsibility of conducting first- and second-year degree college exams should be given back to individual colleges, as was the practice earlier.

Budget break-up
MU declared its annual budget of Rs 572.6 crore yesterday, and several new initiatives are expected to be undertaken on the Kalina campus, one of the most eagerly awaited being construction of a museum complex for which Rs 3.5 crore has been allotted. "The plan is to build a place to house artworks by students from art and architecture courses among others. So far, the artworks made by students were dumped in the institutes' archives. Hence, the museum will work as a place to showcase students' talents and ideas to outsiders," said Dr Shinde. Other new structures coming up on the campus are a hostel for girls and a guest house. A budgetary allocation of Rs 3 crore has been done for both.

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