DESAM petitions Vice Chancellor
Source: Hueiyen News Service
Imphal, October 07 2011:
Highlighting various flaws and irresponsible attitudes of the Manipur University, the Democratic Students' Alliance Manipur (DESAM) today submitted a memorandum to the Vice Chancellor for all round development of the university suggesting various remedial measures.
The memorandum suggested taking up suitable mechanisms to check the punctuality and class room performance of teachers and prohibit teachers of the University from indulging in contract/supply/construction works and to make a policy to punish such teachers if found indulging in such activities.
Highlighting that the research activities in the University in the last four years have almost come to a standstill with increasingly indifferent attitude of the authority towards the bona-fide research scholars of the University, the memorandum suggested taking up initiatives for timely advertisement of Ph D programmes of the university, timely completion of admission process, completion of mandatory course works and for increasing the intake capacity of Ph D students so as to make up the backlog of the preceding years.
"It is surprising that none of the freshly admitted PhD students of the University has been paid any fellowship/scholarship by the University since their admission", it stated while appealing for timely payment of University fellowship or scholarship to students who are entitled to receive them.
It also appealed for increasing the number of seminars, conferences and workshops at national and international level in the University Campus and make policies to attract foreign scholars to the University observing that the number of such events are relatively much less than other Universities in the country.
"Though the University claims that it has a plan to make it a residential University, the ground reality is that it has not taken up, as yet, any visible concrete step to realise the plan", it stated while appealing to speed up the installation of adequate world class infrastructural facilities in the form of international students' hostel, international guest house, international catering centre and others.
Observing that the University has not established any publication division like other Central Universities of the country, DESAM appealed to the VC to set up such division for publication of a University Research journal on regular basis.
It also appealed for timely conduct and announcement or results of all University examinations before the onset of new semester.
Stating that "A perusal of the question papers of most of the examinations conducted by the University would tell a sad tale - a pattern of repeating the same questions every alternate year" DESAM suggested for external setting of question papers of all PG examinations under the scrutiny of internal examiners adding that such repetition reflects poor quality of the University not only on the part of the examination section but also on the bankruptcy of the question setting teachers.
It also suggested establishing a healthy relationship between the University on one hand and the affiliated colleges and the state government on the other hand to achieve new heights in the quality of higher education in the state.
"The University is presently without a NAAC grading.
Since University in India suffers a lot on many fronts without NAAC grading, it is now high time for the Manipur University to take up necessary measures on war footing for facilitating the process of NAAC assessment of the University" the memorandum suggested.
It also suggested taking up necessary steps to ensure free and fair selection procedure at the time of recruitment and promotion of teachers and officers of the University with strict adherence to the UGC guidelines and to fill up all the vacant posts of teaching and non teaching staffs of the University on regular basis at the earliest.
The memorandum appealed to the VC to stop the practice of giving extension of service to retired officers of the University merely on whimsical or personal grounds.