Date:12/12/2003 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2003/12/12/stories/2003121205060400.htm

Southern States - Andhra Pradesh

Where ad hocism rules the roost

By J.S. Ifthekhar

Hyderabad Dec. 11. How many posts can an official hold in an organisation at a time? Not more than one, perhaps. Imagine an executive looking after half a dozen different posts.

Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU) takes the cake for it. S.A. Wahab, the incharge Vice-Chancellor, holds five posts to be precise. He is the incharge Registrar, incharge Controller of Examination, incharge Finance Officer and in-charge Director, Distance Education. The best part is Mr. Wahab himself is appointed on an ad hoc basis.

It is all incharge arrangement at MANUU, a Central university established by an Act of Parliament. The university remains headless for nearly a year and so are other important posts. A search committee has been constituted with Justice Pathak as chairman and Prof. Namdar Singh and Prof. Waseem Ahmed as members to select the new Vice-Chancellor. The committee has held five meetings at Delhi but till date made no headway.

The University affairs have been a matter of concern right from the word go. Especially the way the first Vice-Chancellor of the university, Mohammed Shamim Jairajpuri, laid down office on January 8 this year and handed over charge has raised many eyebrows. As per the University Act, a senior professor has to be handed over charge. But till December 1, 2002, the MANUU had no professor at all. Mr. Wahab, who was temporarily working as Controller of Examinations for a year was made professor on ad hoc basis with effect from December 2, 2002. Permission was immediately obtained from the Ministry of Human Resource Development to hand over charge to a senior professor. But the MHRD, it is alleged, was kept in the dark about the fact that the charge being given to the person was made professor only 37 days ago.

Same is the fate of the next important post of Registrar. After the first Registrar, M. Suleman Siddiqui, completed his term and repatriated to Osmania University in May 2002, the post was filled by two officials - all on incharge basis. Now it rests with the incharge Vice-Chancellor. "The posts have just fallen vacant and I am forced to take charge. There is no alternative," Mr. Wahab said and denied that he is in the running for the office of V-C. He admits that the academic work has suffered in the absence of a regular VC. "I am not able to start new courses nor make appointments. Everything is at a standstill. But the administrative work is not affected,'' he said.

On account of this "incharge" business, the MANUU is not able to launch the conventional system of education. Though it is set up as a dual mode university, the campus-based education is yet to take off. Except for the diploma course in education - D.Ed - introduced two years ago, there is no other campus-based course.

Though there is lot of demand for B. Ed course in Urdu, the MANUU has not been able to launch it. The paucity of seats in D.Ed has also been a sore point with the student community. There is room for just 75 students from all over the country while the 13 DIET centres in the State offer 650 seats.

With five different roles to play, Mr. Wahab has a mound of files to sign. Students, particularly, are a harried lot. Whatever the query or problem they have to meet only one official - the incharge V-C - who looks after different wings of the varsity.