Shikshan Manch fields 'ineligible' candidate for Nagpur University polls

Updated on: Tuesday, November 08, 2011

Any election related to Nagpur University seems to get mired in some controversy. This time, when its full-fledged academic council meets to elect three management council (MC) members on Friday, one of the candidates will contest the polls despite the fact that he does not fulfil an eligibility criterion.

Sources said that Shikshan Manch, one of the parties contesting the elections in alliance with Young Teachers Association and Nagpur University Teachers Association, nominated the name of Laxminarayan Institute of Technology (LIT) lecturer Rajabhau Khotpal.

However, sources claimed that he had failed to complete the mandatory requirement of minimum three years experience as head of the department (HoD). At present, Khotpal is HoD of LIT's Oil and Technology department, but his appointment was made on February 21 this year after superannuation of D Kulkarni. This means he has not completed even one year in office as HoD.

Ironically, he was made chairman of chemical technology board for NU's Board of Studies (BoS), despite the fact that he failed to fulfil criteria of minimum three years as HoD. Sources added that Khotpal was going to superannuate on November 30, which means he has no chance of becoming eligible even at a later date.

Sources said that even NU registrar Mahesh Yenkie, who was returning officer for the polls, failed to take cognisance of this blunder. Since Yenkie is also an officiating director of LIT, he might have ignored the lapse, some people claimed.

The NU PRO office as usual failed to comment on the issue and directed all queries to the registrar. Yenkie, however, categorically denied the allegations, stating that they are considering LIT as a 'whole unit' and therefore Khotpal could contest the polls. "Moreover, there is no other candidate to contest the polls," he told TOI, refusing to comment further.

Though Khotpal was unavailable for his reaction, Shikshan Manch president Prabhuji Deshpande justified Khotpal's nomination in the electoral list, stating that the NU administration, including vice-chancellor Vilas Sapkal, had already cleared his name. "Everything has been done as per rules. No one objected to it so far. Why is the media making an issue out of it?" a furious Deshpande asked. "There is no question of rules and regulations being flouted when the NU returning officer has cleared Khotpal's name," he added.

Times of India

Shikshan Manch fields 'ineligible' candidate for Nagpur University polls

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