Mumbai University says management council meeting to be held online, members ask why

“This time, the varsity administration has not even bothered to provide us any reason for choosing the online mode for MC meeting,” said one MC member. According to the member, the online mode of meeting is ineffective as they are not able to put forth their arguments. “In many cases, we are also put on mute citing technical reasons,” added the member.

Management Council members Pradeep Sawant and Rajan Kolambekar from Yuva Sena have now written to the university vice-chancellor, urging him to hold meetings in the offline mode.

“There are many technical issues during the online mode of meeting. Due to these issues, many decisions are not even understood completely by the members. With no Covid-19 restrictions, it is not right to hold the meeting in online mode now,” states the letter sent on Thursday.

Mumbai University’s insistence on holding online meetings of administrative bodies has been questioned by members of these bodies for some time now. According to members, the online mode was a stopgap arrangement during the pandemic, but the varsity administration has decided to use it as an ‘escape’ from quality discussions over issues linked to policy decisions.

Earlier this year, it was announced that the meeting of the Mumbai University’s Senate will also be held online. It was only after several Senate members raised their voices against it that the meeting was held in the traditional offline mode.