BUCTU, ANGC cry foul over Senate election

Similarly, ANGC president, principal M G Shirahatti of Lala Lajpatrai College said the date for filing nomination forms is improper. Colleges would be closed till Nov 8, but the date for principals to file nominations for Senate and Academic Council polls is Nov 14. Thus those principals who have gone out of town and don’t return by Nov 14 will be unable to contest, he said.

Sadashivan and Shirahatti said the manner of preparing rolls and the timing of their publication were also wrong. “Electoral rolls are the most vital document in the process. Though the varsity timetable shows rolls should have been ready on Aug 20 and that copies of the same were to be made available for sale on Sept 15, we got a copy only on Saturday last, after meeting the Vice-Chancellor (VC),” Sadashivan said.

Consequently, BUCTU said it had found many errors in the rolls which could have been corrected if they had been prepared earlier. “Principals’ names have been placed in the teachers’ category, and there are also duplicates, i.e., two serial numbers carrying the same name and address,” said Sadashivan.

Shirahatti noted: “Principals who have retired from regular service and taken contractual appointment not consistent with rules have been included in the rolls. Such names must be deleted forthwith. Some principals who are principals in-charge are also included in the rolls.”

Sadashivan said teachers teaching multi-faculty subjects like geography, English, economics etc. had been given their faculties arbitrarily, and the varsity had also erased choices given by teachers in their forms.

He said even the circular on enrolment of teachers was sent to many colleges on the date of fixing rolls. “We asked the varsity to change the dates, but it hasn’t happened,” he said.

Pro Vice-Chancellor Dr Naresh Chandra said the dates could not be changed once notification was out. Election notice has already been sent to every teacher at his/her residential address. So they have enough time to file their nominations, he said. As for principals, theirs are non-vacation posts. The college offices are working, he said.

“The rolls are available in printed form and on a floppy. As per the statute, we have readied rolls for teachers 40 days before polls. Teachers with multi-faculty subjects who have written so have been assigned the first of the faculties mentioned in their forms. But if so they desire, they can get faculties changed by applying to the VC. The VC is empowered to make corrections in the rolls 15 days before polls,” said Dr Chandra.