V-C appointment raises eyebrows

But then Saurashtra University has always had political appointees and politicians as vice-chancellors rather than academician-administrators. This has resulted in unsavoury controversies and a management not in tune with the mood on campus.

Years of mismanagement and neglect have also resulted in the university running an overdraft of Rs 1.5 crore. "At this juncture, the university needs a V-C who can control his staff and whose word will prevail. He will have to put the management back into proper order and instill a sense of discipline," some lecturers told Express Newsline.

"Almost all the decisions taken by Vice-Chancellors till now have caused controversies and triggered off student protests causing a lot of bad publicity for the university," said student leader Dharam Kambhaliya. Today, the scene at the university is chaotic. Most of the employees come to work after 12 pm though the official reporting time is 10 am. In fact, Harsidh Joshi, who preceded Mavani, is said to have often come late.

Finance is also a matter of concern. In spite of the mess it is in, University officials and syndicate members are not willing to cut down on extravagant expenditure. Syndicate meetings are held at places outside the university campus which proves to be expensive, cars are hired by university staff at will and the University pays for a number of travels bills put up by the syndicate. "The new V-C will have to be very tough to restore some semblance of order in the University," a senior member of the Syndiate observed.