Goa Governor Mridula Sinha has today been urged not to allow any extension to the Goa University Vice Chancellor Dr Satish Shetye who is due to retire this month on attaining the age of 65.
In a memorandum to Governor Sinha it has been sought that she should not allow the Goa Government to drag her in their malafied and mischievous attempt to illegally grant an extension to Vice- Chancellor Dr Satish Shetye. The entire pre-planned move of the 17 member Goa University’s Executive Council to amend the Goa University Statute SA-6 (1) (d) was to give Dr Shetye a two year n extension. The Executive Council did not have the powers to engage in fixing the retirement age of academic staff of the University including that of the Vice Chancellor in view of the amendment dated 23rd September 2002 to the Goa University Act. The solemnity and sanctity of Goa’s educational turf stood compromised with the very high-handed move under a veil of total secrecy to give Goa University Vice-Chancellor Dr Satish Shetye a two year extension. Dr Shetye who would benefit by this two extension himself presided over that very Executive Council meeting of which he is the Chairman and comprising of his friends and family as members. Infact the Vice-Chancellor is not supposed to take any major decision three months prior to his retirement. This first ever change to the University Statute that was sought to be effected to give Dr Satish Shetye a further two years as Vice-Chancellor would defeat the very spirit and intent of restricting the retirement age of the Vice- Chancellor to 65 years which was meant for induction of relatively younger persons and fresh blood in the management of the University. Infact in September 2012 itself when Dr Satish Shetye was appointed as Vice-Chancellor he lacked academic excellence, exposure to the higher education system in the country and abroad, adequate experience in academic and administrative governance besides above all having no teaching experience whatsoever. The current lackluster Vice-Chancellor Dr Satish Shetye has no singular great achievement to merit such extra-ordinary privilege of a two year extension. Even the ‘A’ Grade gained by Goa University from NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council) was not due to the present Vice-Chancellors’s own personal contributions but due to the collective efforts of all the Departments in the Goa University and the good work done by earlier Vice-Chancellor. Dr Satish Shetye’s only achievement is that he has acted as a dedicated mouth piece of the government and danced to the tunes of the ruling BJP in running and rather ruining the University. Dr Shetye’s extension was manipulated at the instance of the RSS elements within the BJP and would affect the University adversely by denying it the services of more acclaimed and capable national level personalities. If the extension to Dr Satish Shetye was sought under the guise of he being knowledgeable and experienced then why had such extensions not been offered to other senior faculty members too. The rules require that the post of Vice-Chancellor be advertised six months in advance and a Search Committee can also be constituted to recommend to the Governor suitable names of persons to be the next Vice-Chancellor. The authorities intentionally went into slumber as the extension now being sought to be given to the incumbent Dr Satish Shetye was well pre-planned. Since the very inception of Goa University in 1985, all the Vice-Chancellors appointed have been from the Science stream. It is time to get an eminent personality from other faculties like Arts, Commerce or Management appointed as the next Vice-Chancellor to infuse some dynamism and Acche din at the Goa University besides the much transparency in its working. Aires Rodrigues Advocate High Court C/G-2, Shopping Complex Ribandar Retreat, Ribandar – Goa – 403006 Mobile No: 9822684372 Office Tel No: (0832) 2444012 Email: [email protected] Or [email protected] You can also reach me on Facebook.com/ AiresRodrigues Twitter@rodrigues_aires www.airesrodrigues.com
