Fourth panel appointed to fill up chairs at SPPU

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things have not moved. While there has been a delay in installation of the new statue of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar which was expected to get completed by mid-April, there has been no appointment to the chair in his name. Ambedkarites allege that SPPU administration isn’t serious in keeping his legacy alive.

“If the Vice-Chancellor wishes to, he can make the appointment of a person whom he feels is qualified on that post. He doesn’t need a committee to guide him for this appointment since it is within his powers. Had he been serious, he would have paid personal attention to both these the statue and the chair. It is sad that at a time when the country is celebrating 125th anniversary of Dr Ambedkar with such grand events, all that varsity has done is to organise one seminar. Had there been a full-time chair, a lot of other activities could have been planned,” said Dr M N Kamble, president, Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh, Pune.

Former chair Dr Raosaheb Kasbe also expressed his unhappiness. “There is no lack of qualified persons. I don’t know if they wish to discontinue the chair. We would get around Rs 5 lakh from the interest in corpus fund which was inadequate but yet with help of funding, we organised many national level seminars, literary festivals,” he said.

Eleven other chairs are also lying vacant since the administration is yet to decide the criteria for appointments to these chairs. This, despite the fact that three committees headed by senior academicians (including a former acting vice-chancellor) have been appointed since 2014 only to decide the criteria for appointments.

Dr Arun Adsool, former acting vice-chancellor whose committee submitted a report in 2014 on criteria for appointments, agrees that the Vice-Chancellor can make appointments if he so wishes.

“There are two aspects to it. One is making the appointments itself. But another matter of concern is that in the past, barring one or two persons, none of the chairs were doing any constructive work or offering any new research. They didn’t follow basics like filing half-yearly reports to the varsity. That’s why it is important to find the right people for job who will be able to understand both methodology and financial aspects,” he said.

Dr Wasudeo Gade, SPPU Vice-Chancellor, said a fourth committee was appointed only two weeks back to come up with fresh criteria for making the appointments. “The issue had come up in recent management council meeting where it was decided that we needed to look into some of the criteria suggested by earlier committees. We need not just a full-time person but also certain stringent criteria to ensure qualified persons take up the chair and it doesn’t remain just a cosmetic exercise. Also, the earlier remuneration, which was around Rs 30,000 per month, was low and hence we have agreed to have suitable remuneration to get qualified persons. To ensure that the process is seamless, a committee has been appointed under Dr Satish Alekar. As soon as the report is ready, we will come out with the advertisement for the posts,” said Gade.

Dr Satish Alekar, when contacted, said meetings were yet to take place. “We will notify when the report is ready,” he said.