NAGPUR, JULY 23: Leaders of Nagpur University employees unions have suggested that departmental examinations be held before promoting employees to ensure a desired level of competence.Representatives of three unions in the university met officiating Vice Chancellor J S Saharia on Thursday and are learnt to have offered suggestions to improve the administration.Speaking to this reporter before the meeting, some of the union leaders felt that a faulty system of recruitment and promotions has indirectly led to the mess in which the university finds itself today.Jairam Shende was educated only up to the seventh class, Kalamkar is just a 10th pass and Kohchade too was only a matriculate when he entered the university. All three rose to the rank of Assistant Registrar.The university should observe strict quality control at the time of recruitment. Minimum qualifications should be clearly prescribed and adhered to while following the policy of reservations, the union leaders felt.``It sounds good tosay that Kohchade or some of the others educated themselves up to doctorate level, but they got all these degrees while in the service of the university. Once you are an employee, naturally you have all the means to get any degree you want,'' said one of the union leaders.The problem, he said, is that the competence of such employees is only as high as the qualification with which they enter the university. It does not rise with the degrees they obtain subsequently. It is therefore important that before promoting any employee his competence level must be tested through a departmental examination.``There are many people who have reached the level of Supervisor or above who can not draft a four-line letter without making a mistake,'' admitted a senior official. ``It is extremely difficult for us to get work done from such a workforce. And, because everybody seems to have a godfather or a protector, there's nothing we can do about it either,'' he added.It was suggested that an independent machinery beset up in the university to conduct the departmental examinations. Giving promotions only on the basis of length of service is not enough to maintain quality in the workforce, it was felt.The union leaders were also critical of the Shiv Sena-BJP Government in the state for delaying administrative approval to 190 posts in the administration which have already been sanctioned to the university.Finance Minister Mahadeorao Shivankar and even Chief Minister Narayan Rane have repeatedly given assurances to approve the posts but so far they have done nothing, the leaders alleged.They also wondered what happened to Vice Chancellor Bhalchandra Chopane's assurance about asking all senior officials to declare their wealth.The unions represented before Saharia were the Nagpur Vidyapeeth Karmachari Sangh, the Nagpur Vidyapeeth Shikshakettar Sevan Sangh and the Nagpur Vidyapeeth Magasvargiya Karmachari Sanghatana.Saharia is learnt to have also convened a meeting of past vice chancellors of Nagpur Universityand some veteran academics to get their views on improving the administration. Among those expected to attend are former VCs M A Chansarkar, Haribhau Kedar, P L Bhandarkar, M G Bokare and Lanjewar, former minsiter T G Deshmukh, noted economist Dr S A Deshpande, Principal A S Ukhalkar and others.Members of a committee appointed yesterday by Saharia to draw out an action plan for streamlining the administration met in the university office today. According to sources, several measures were listed out to bring the administration back on an even keel after the recent jolts and to rebuild public confidence in the university system. The report will be submitted to the officiating V-C tomorrow.
