MU failed to use 7-60% of budget allotted for assessments

According to Durve, the low remuneration paid to the examiners and moderators keeps them away from assessment duty. Durve has alleged that no teacher wants to report to assessment duty due to this, and hence there is a delay in declaring results every year.

According to the RTI reply to Durve dated June 10, the varsity has revealed that in 2010 it failed to utilise Rs 18,44, 293, nearly 26 per cent of the total budgetary provision towards assessment and moderation. In 2011, MU could not utilise Rs 16,72,761, which is 22 per cent of the total funds allocated. In 2012 and 2013, the university failed to utilised Rs 5,39, 494 and Rs 58,41,106 which is seven per cent and 60 per cent of the total budgetary provision made respectively. This year the varsity has made a budgetary provision of Rs 97,90,000 towards assessment and moderation.

“If the varsity has under utilised funds, they must utilise thesame by giving a decent remuneration to the teachers. Even labourers at a construction site get a better remuneration per day than the Rs 320 that these examiners are given. This is a matter of the future of thousands of students and the varsity is neglecting it,” said Durve.

Mumbai University has cited various reasons for careless evaluation of examination papers each year and there has been no improvement till date. The number of students that clear the examination after re-evaluation indicates the callous manner in which papers are evaluated.

Another problem that students have to deal with every year is the delay in declaration of results and re-evaluation results. “Every time there is a delay in results, the university officials point at us, that we don’t report to the exam centre. Many of us still report for the assessment duty despite the remuneration being so low. We have taken up this matter with the state government and the university officials a number of times, but hardly Rs 4-10 was increased in the past two years,” said an examiner.

M U Khan, registrar of MU, said, “Budgetary provisions made at the beginning of the year are made considering the quantum of work, and issues to be completed by that year. Expenditure is calculated as and when our accounts section processes the bill. In many cases, either the teachers do not claim the remuneration or their institutes fail to submit the bill on time. Hence due to not receiving bills on time, those expenses are not shown in the final audit.”

Khan added, “As for the remuneration of the teachers, even I believe that the amount that is paid to them is far lesser than the work they do. The matter has been taken up by the varsity and is up for discussion. We will come up with a solution soon.”