In what appears to be another round of tussle between MG University Vice-Chancellor Rajan Gurukkal and the UDF-appointed syndicate members, the syndicate meet held on Wednesday ended in acrimony, following heated arguments on launching of new off-campus centres of the university.
While the Vice-Chancellor walked out from the meeting after a 45-minute long verbal fight between both the sides, pro-UDF members alleged that Gurukkal unilaterally rejected the syndicate decision.
The morning session of the meet was comparatively peaceful, but the afternoon session turned to be a heated session when the final approval, for launching of 78 new off-campus centres, came up for consideration. Citing quality of education issues, the VC opposed the proposal for starting a large number of centres at a time. The three government representatives, who were present at the meeting, also raised reservations on the centres, taking into account several complaints, pertaining to the quality of education, that the government had received on existing off-campus centres.
However, the pro-UDF members raised their voice against the VC’s stance, which made the meeting vociferous. They demanded a voting on the issue. However, the VC stuck to his stance and walked out.
“I have the moral responsibility to maintain the national reputation of the university. Each and every issue pertaining to the functioning of the university cannot be decided by voting. We do not have sufficient staff members and employees for supervising a large number of off-campus centres. Apart from that, all eligible applicants cannot be given permission to start new centres without considering the administrative capacity of the university. Moreover, the quality assurance of these centres is another issue which must be considered seriously, Gurukkal told ‘Express’.
However, the UDF syndicate members alleged that the VC’s anti-democratic stand is against the university acts and statutes.