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GU back to square one on affiliation issue Sunday, July 29, 2001

OUR EDUCATION CORRESPONDENT, THE TIMES OF INDIA NEWS SERVICE
AHMEDABAD: The affiliation imbroglio at the Gujarat University took a new turn with the executive council on Friday referring the matter to the need committee to look into whether there was need for the proposal for 21 new colleges.

On the same day, the Gujarat High Court disposed of petitions challenging earlier decisions and said there was no need for action as the original grievance of the petitioners had been addressed. In his order, Justice P K Sarkar added that as the provisions of the Gujarat University Act had been met and the petitioners had received the kind of relief they wanted, there was no need for action.


In his petition, executive council member and former deputy chief minister Narhari Amin had challenged the council's July 6 decision of letting the vice chancellor decide on whether there was need or not for new colleges and also granting affiliation accordingly.


At Friday's meeting, which lasted barely 20 minutes, vice chancellor Naresh Ved read out the complete order of the court. Amin also handed over a letter to Ved demanding that correct procedure be followed this time.


He demanded that members of the committee actually visit the various colleges which have applied and also ensure that they have the required infrastructure. "They have to ensure that the trust which has demanded the college, has the required funds apart from all the basic amenities. A complete report should then be placed in the academic council which in turn should pass it on to the executive. Only then can affiliation be granted."


After initially granting affiliation to 16 of the 21 colleges that had applied, the university hurriedly called an academic council meeting last Wednesday and referred all the applications back to the need committee. Sources in the university said it was a clear move to avoid a judgement from the High Court as it was evident that the university would be reprimanded. After Thursday's decision, the entire process will be started from scratch, nullifying all earlier decisions on the issue.


Sources, however, added that receiving affiliation for a BCA college, which is the bone of contention, would be extremely difficult if the committee follows the law by the word. Statistics of the last two years give a depressing picture. Of the 15,000 forms that were sold last year for the course, 8,000 were returned and all the 1,060 seats were filled up. Admission had stopped at 66 per cent.


This year, 960 seats were available with the Dharamsinh Desai Institute of Technology turning into a deemed university. However, only 3,200 forms were sold and only 2,650 students actually applied and admissions ended at 61 per cent. Some of the lesser-known institutes in fact had problems filling their seats.


If BCA is so unpopular with students after the slowdown in economies, how can the university justify new colleges for it? Many fear that if the new colleges are affiliated, the level of the course would fall drastically as students with 50 per cent marks would also have to be accommodated to fill seats.


There is also some apprehension in the university over whether the new developments will weed out corruption as the same people, who had originally been accused of malpractice, will be among the decision makers.

News Source : Times Of India News Service [ Lightning News ]

 

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