VTU VC to be 'agony uncle'

If you are student of Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU), you can meet the Vice-Chancellor, no less, to get your grievances addressed.

From the next academic semester, Vice-Chancellor Dr H Maheshappa will be personally available, along with Registrar Prof S A Kori and Registrar (Evaluation) Dr G N Krishnamurthy to deal with the problems of students and parents.

A VTU official said the proposal was made after several complaints regarding examination results and administrative concerns came to the fore. “We felt this was a better way to deal with grievances, instead of having every student approach the VTU headquarters at Belgaum whenever there was an issue,” he said. The adalats will be held every semester at the four regional offices: Belgaum, Bangalore, Mysore and Gulbarga. Hearings will be held at each of the four offices once a semester. On-the-spot decisions would be given whenever possible or the decision would be posted on the university website within 10 days. In recent years, a specific tribunal for addressing the grievances of teachers and students has taken root in several institutions.

The State Government has popularised the Teachers Adalat to deal with adjucation of disputes involving teachers and other employees of higher educational institutions. The Central government has also introduced the Educational Tribunal Bill in Parliament to adjucate on disputes involving both students and teachers.

Students have welcomed the move, especially since it would bring them face to face with the V-C. Faris K, a student of an engineering college in Bangalore, said it was laudable initiative. “However, I hope that they can increase the frequency of the adalats from once a semester to twice”, he said.