Chancellor's notice to NU comes in for sharp criticism.
Governor SC Jamir's show cause notice to Nagpur University for providing land to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for its national convention has come in for sharp criticism from management council members and BJP office-bearers. The three-day event was held from February 6 to 8 at the University Ground adjacent to Subhedar Hall at Ravi Nagar.
While vice chancellor SN Pathan and pro-VC GS Parasher were not available for comment, other members were united in the opinion that since the university is an autonomous body, and the management council is the highest decision making body, it can give its land on rent to any party or organisation.
"I am quite surprised by the notice. There is nothing illegal in handing over the land for rent. We had given a formal letter to the VC on which he had consulted with the chancellor. The same piece of land had also been given to the NCP for its convention on October 1 and 2 in 2000. No notice had been served at that time, while the same rules and regulations applied then too. I know this because I was at the helm of affairs of that event when I was in NCP," said the present BJP city president Sudhakar Deshmukh.
Deshmukh observed that the BJP had not forced the VC to allot them the land, it had only requested the university. "It was shocking to know that it took the chancellor's office over eight months to realise that the university had flouted rules. He could have done it when the convention was underway in February using his special powers," he said, giving a clean chit to VC and the council.
The senior most member of the council, Dr Ved Prakash Mishra, questioned the legality of the notice to him personally, since he was not present at the meeting on January 24, during which the university had taken a decision to hand over the land for the BJP meet. "I was in Indore that day and therefore I have to first examine the notice. We will discuss the matter on Wednesday and also take a legal opinion."
Another member Vinod Indurkar said that when the university consulted the government on the matter they had left the decision to the council's discretion. "Even the chancellor had left it to the university, now why are they raking up the old issue, eight months after everything is over?" he asked.
An old council member, Arun Patil, strongly feels that the council being the highest body has all powers of providing its land on rent or on mortgage for any purpose to any party. "We're not giving it for free. The university is getting revenue from it," he said.
MLA Devendra Fadnavis, who was in-charge of the BJP convention, raised doubts over the double standards as in the past NSUI and NCP had also conducted programmes at the same venue. "There is nothing illegal in this. There was no damage done to the property and rent was also paid to the university. The party didn't force the university, we were even ready to shift to another location in the city," he adds.
While vice chancellor SN Pathan and pro-VC GS Parasher were not available for comment, other members were united in the opinion that since the university is an autonomous body, and the management council is the highest decision making body, it can give its land on rent to any party or organisation.
"I am quite surprised by the notice. There is nothing illegal in handing over the land for rent. We had given a formal letter to the VC on which he had consulted with the chancellor. The same piece of land had also been given to the NCP for its convention on October 1 and 2 in 2000. No notice had been served at that time, while the same rules and regulations applied then too. I know this because I was at the helm of affairs of that event when I was in NCP," said the present BJP city president Sudhakar Deshmukh.
Deshmukh observed that the BJP had not forced the VC to allot them the land, it had only requested the university. "It was shocking to know that it took the chancellor's office over eight months to realise that the university had flouted rules. He could have done it when the convention was underway in February using his special powers," he said, giving a clean chit to VC and the council.
The senior most member of the council, Dr Ved Prakash Mishra, questioned the legality of the notice to him personally, since he was not present at the meeting on January 24, during which the university had taken a decision to hand over the land for the BJP meet. "I was in Indore that day and therefore I have to first examine the notice. We will discuss the matter on Wednesday and also take a legal opinion."
Another member Vinod Indurkar said that when the university consulted the government on the matter they had left the decision to the council's discretion. "Even the chancellor had left it to the university, now why are they raking up the old issue, eight months after everything is over?" he asked.
An old council member, Arun Patil, strongly feels that the council being the highest body has all powers of providing its land on rent or on mortgage for any purpose to any party. "We're not giving it for free. The university is getting revenue from it," he said.
MLA Devendra Fadnavis, who was in-charge of the BJP convention, raised doubts over the double standards as in the past NSUI and NCP had also conducted programmes at the same venue. "There is nothing illegal in this. There was no damage done to the property and rent was also paid to the university. The party didn't force the university, we were even ready to shift to another location in the city," he adds.
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