Months after KV Pendharkar College in Dambivali, a popular government-aided institution, decided to close its aided sections and convert it into a fully unaided educational institution; A teachers union has asked Mumbai University to revoke its status as an autonomous college by the university and the University Grants Commission (UGC) due to violation of rules.
Maharashtra Union of Secular Teachers (MUST) on Sunday Mumbai University Vice-Chancellor Dr. The college has written a letter of complaint to Ravindra Kulkarni listing various violations like closure of aided section, sudden closure of research wing and NCC. Wing, as not following the rules laid down in the formation of various educational bodies and not being functional statutory bodies as mandated by the UGC. Anti Ragging Cell, Internal Complaints Committee etc.
But the college management denied all the allegations.
In an unprecedented move, the 50-year-old Dombivli College decided to close its aided section in June earlier this year. An aided college receives salary subsidy from the state government, while the unaided section receives no government assistance.
The move has angered the staff, students, alumni and others of the university circle as the college forced the teaching and non-teaching staff appointed under the aided section to stop working. Since then, Must, on behalf of the employees, has been approaching the authorities for intervention. Earlier, Must had complained to the Maharashtra government’s director of higher education that the college had suddenly closed the aided section without permission.
After this complaint, a show cause notice was sent to the college in June. In their latest complaint, Must made further allegations such as that the college did not recruit 22 new teaching posts sanctioned by the Maharashtra government in 2023, and that it stopped recruitment at its research center and failed to provide. Any information about courses and fee structure on its website as mandated by UGC norms.
Refuting all the allegations in the complaint letter, Prabhakar Desai, president of Dambivali Shiksha Prasarak Mandal, which runs the college, said, “There has been no violation of any rules in the college.” Stating that this matter is under consideration, he added, ‘The management has decided to close the aided section in order to increase the educational level of the college because the employees appointed by the government are not working at their full capacity. Affects the college level. Even though the aided section has been closed, the college continues to charge fees according to the basic fee structure based on the subsidized section.”
A senior Mumbai University official said the administration would look into MUST’s complaint. “We will take action as per the prescribed rules,” the official said.