Mumbai University officials says that 452 colleges out of the 742 affiliated ones in the university do not have a principal

Updated on: Thursday, January 21, 2016

mumbaiuniv Mumbai University officials have revealed that 452 colleges out of the 742 affiliated ones in the university do not have a principal. Permanent principals are working in only 290 colleges, while the rest are depending on their senior-most member or in-charge principals for administration duties.

Possible issues constitute a lack of candidates with adequate qualifications, and also, a lack of interest in candidates for the salary offered for the position.

MU registrar M A Khan informed HT, "Majority of these colleges without principals are unaided colleges, where the university has no control on the institute. These managements tend to flout rules because there is no financial aid they expect from the government or the university."

The Pune Director of Education had released a government resolution (GR) two years ago, which said that university grants, including teacher salaries, will be stopped for aided colleges if they fail to appoint a principal in the given time span. However, the GR doesn't cover unaided colleges and thus, they don't always adhere to the rules.

"Sadly, nobody wants to take up the immense responsibilities that come along with the post of a principal of any institute. The administrative work can be stressful and the fact that there's not much monetary gain as well, most senior staff members who are eligible for the post end up declining the offer," said the principal of Nagindas Khandwala College in Malad, Ancy Jose.

Dileep Kamat, the acting in-charge principal of Mithibai College for almost a year now, said, "My approval for the in-charge post came from the university only, after a series of interviews and scrutinising process. This year, I didn't even go for the interviews so I'm not sure how much longer I hold this post." Narsee Monjee College of Commerce and Economics is also working with temporary in-charge principal Amee Vora.

Yet another issue cited is the university's allegedly slow approval process. A Thane college principal, requesting anonymity, said, "After repeated requests, also we couldn't find out the problem for delay in approving the post of a principal. University needs to speed up the process for colleges to be able to function properly."

Mumbai University officials says that 452 colleges out of the 742 affiliated ones in the university do not have a principal

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