GLC gets a new principal

Updated on: Friday, September 30, 2011

Higher and technical education minister Rajesh Tope spent a week in the US to study the administration of Harvard University, but nearer home, he was unable to set the prestigious Government Law College (GLC) in order owing to his lackadaisical approach.

GLC was without a principal for well over two years. A special grant of Rs 35 crore sanctioned by the then higher and technical education minister, Dilip Walse-Patil, himself a product of GLC, in 2006, and a fresh special financial assistance of Rs 5 crore, when Walse-Patil was finance minister in the subsequent years, lapsed since no steps were taken for its utilisation.

Following stringent criticism from the higher and technical education department, the government on Wednesday appointed R B Malik, who is the president of the state industrial tribunal and a judicial official of the rank of district judge, as the new principal of the college. “The government has lost interest in GLC. Owing to the mounting pressure and agitation launched by Yuva Sena, the government appointed a new principal and that too after the law and judiciary department stepped in. Prima facie, it appears that GLC is not the priority, despite the fact that eminent persons like Dr Ambedkar, president Pratibha Patil and former chief justice Y V Chandrachud were the students of GLC,” a senior bureaucrat said.

After P R Rao retired as the principal on June 30, 2009, no regular principal was appointed. More shocking was the fact that on April 4, 2011, the government appointed M S Molawane, joint director of education, as the acting principal. Molawane has a degree in home science and had given in writing that it would not be possible for her to hold the new charge. “Tope must assign responsibility as to how Molawane was appointed. It reflects the casual approach of the government,” the bureaucrat said.

Though there was no response from Tope (TOI sent him seven SMS in the last three days), a senior official said that even though a regular principal was not appointed, efforts were made for the purpose. In June 2008, a requisition was sent to the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) for appointment of a regular principal. It was prescribed that the candidate should be a postgraduate in law or a PhD, below 45 years of age and with 15 years of experience. Accordingly, MPSC invited applications, but there was no response. Later, draft amendment rules were circulated, but MPSC submitted that on the basis of draft rules, it can’t issue an advertisement. “Now the rules have been amended. We have enhanced the age from 45 to 54. Since a principal has been appointed, there is no need to issue a fresh advertisement,” the official said.

On the special grant, the official said, “Walse-Patil had sanctioned Rs 35 crore for redevelopment of the GLC building and later, an additional Rs 5 crore was sanctioned. The government appointed leading architect Shashi Prabhu to redesign the college. It appears that after Walse-Patil took over as the speaker, the grant lapsed since it was not utilised.”

GLC gets a new principal

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