Monday 8 August 2011

NU fined Rs 2L for LIT blunder

This is the perfect example of lethargy prevailing at Nagpur University. All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), the apex body for engineering education in the country, fined it Rs 2 lakh for its failure to renew approval ofLaxminarayan Institute of Technology (LIT), the once prestigious institute now suffering university neglect, highly placed sources disclosed.

Citing confidential documents, TOI on March 6 had first reported that LIT's batch of academic year 2010-11 was not approved by AICTE on account of various loopholes including poor maintenance and failure to fill up vacancies. AICTE's earlier approval was only for 2008-10 session. Thereafter, LIT should have applied for the extension. Sheer apathy on the part of former LIT director Suresh Gholse and other officials meant they failed to send request for renewal of approval. If the renewal proposal had been dispatched before the deadline, NU could have saved the ignominy of fine and the money. The fine money was paid from general funds collected from the students in form of fees, sources claimed.

Interestingly, NU Finance and Accounts Department took several objections on the money being spent from its general funds on account of lethargy by the LIT officials. In a detailed note-sheet, the department demanded an explanation from the NU bosses for "unnecessary" expenditure due to lapse. It called for action on the guilty and recovery of Rs 2 lakh from the officials concerned. The department had granted a green signal to pay the fine after directions from vice-chancellor Vilas Sapkal or LIT would have been derecognized. Registrar Mahesh Yenkie, who is also holding additional charge as LIT director, went to Delhi for the purpose.

Though NU PRO refused to comment as usual claiming ignorance, registrar Mahesh Yenkie confirmed that the fine was paid. "The good news is that AICTE has renewed approval to the institute. We are trying our best to plug deficiencies pointed out by the AICTE," he told TOI.

Without naming Gholse, he added that they would definitely take action against the officials and also try to recover fine from them. "It's a clear case of negligence and the guilty must be punished. We didn't take action so far as our priority was to renew approval," Yenkie said. Gholse was not available for comments.

TOI had been reporting on how future of innocent students was at stake as the AICTE panel had warned of not renewing the approval unless all deficiencies pointed out during their visit were removed before August 31. It also highlighted how Gholse failed to stem the rot at LIT. He was eventually asked to go. 

No comments:

Post a Comment