A shocking fact has come to light about the unreasonable delay in appointment of Controller of Examinations in the University of Mumbai. A reply to an RTI inquiry has revealed how the selection committee headed by Vice Chancellor Sanjay Deshmukh rejected all “eligible candidates” shortlisted by the screening committee.
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Controller of Examinations is responsible for framing timetable, conducting examinations and the announcement of results. He is also responsible for the scheduling of examination considering unforeseen circumstances such as examination papers leaking out or natural disasters.
Anil Galgali, an RTI activist, said, “Mumbai University spent Rs 1,39,816 on the advertisements it released on August 17, 2015 and August 16, 2016. The procedure to select eligible candidate was done twice.” A screening committee was formed by the Vice Chancellor two times to shortlist the candidates.
In 2015, the committee shortlisted four out of 24 applicants, and in 2016, 10 out of 14 applicants were selected as “eligible candidates” for the post of Controller of Examination. “On both the occasions, the high power committee headed by the Vice Chancellor rejected all the shortlisted “eligible candidates”.
According to the provisions of the Maharashtra Universities Act, 1994, the state government can appoint an officer on deputation, in case the post remains vacant for six months. “Keeping a sensitive position like Controller of Examination vacant for this long is a clear and blatant violation of the Act,” said Galgali.
Coincidentally, Maharashtra government had not appointed a constitutional post of Advocate General vacant for over ten months. Advocate General was appointed after the high court reprimanded the state government for its lethargy.
