Registrars,VC feud intensifies
Vested interests working at the behest of Dr Prabhu Dev: Krishnan
After being incapacitated by Vice-Chancellor Dr N Prabhu Dev, the two Registrars at Bangalore University struck back on Thursday and said they would submit a memorandum to the Governor and the Education minister about Dev’s indiscretions and malpractices.
Charging the V-C with “destroying” and “demoralising” the system at the University, the registrars maintained that they will seek punitive action against Prabhu Dev in the memorandum.
Addressing the media, Dr M G Krishnan, Registrar of the University said “It has been a painful, sad and humiliating experience since being appointed as Registrar. The provocations and the humiliation at the hands of the V-C is unbearable.”
Krishnan added that all vested interests were working at the behest of the V-C and the only reason behind delaying implementation of orders and providing clearances was the violation of the Karnataka State Universities Act (KSU 2000) by Dev.
“All tender notifications lack transparency and therefore we have not implemented any of it. I have functioned according to the Act and if he thinks we are wrong, we are proud to be wrong,” Krishnan said.
The Registrar (Evaluation) Dr M S Talawar too accused the V-C of hijacking the examination system at the varsity. “The V-C has taken over and is outsourcing everything indiscriminately without following rules or regulations,” he alleged. Talawar also quoted a recent instance where the tender for over 15 lakh answer scripts was awarded to Manipal Printers. “It is enough for two years but he has asked for more answer scripts to be printed and I felt that it was surplus to requirement and therefore have not given the clearance,” he said.
The two registrars also recalled Prabhu Dev’s brush with controversy as Director of the Jayadeva Institute of Cardiology to justify their accusations. Further, they also recalled expenses incurred by the V-C’s office at luxury hotels and called them unnecessary and extravagant.
BU Guest Faculty supports VC
The Guest Faculty (teachers) Forum of the Bangalore University has come out in support of the Vice-Chancellor Dr N Prabhu Dev in the controversy surrounding the recent orders issued to the Registrars. Representatives said that the V-C had the full support of the forum in weeding out vested interests from the varsity.
Representatives from the the Department of Rural Education and the Environmental Sciences said that the Registrars were deliberately delaying implementation of certain reforms and alleged that the Registrar Dr M G Krishnan was casteist. They cited the delay in implementation of the hike in pay for guest faculty at the varsity as an example of the Registrar impeding reforms. “The hike was approved by the V-C in January but we are yet to receive it,” one faculty said.
