RU foundation day ends on positive note

Vijay Deo Jha Ranchi Monday, July 13, 2009

Ovation at ‘Maulana Azad Senate Hall’ and demonstration near ‘Governor’s House’, and both had the field day on Sunday.

It was the occasion of the 49th foundation year of Ranchi University (RU) which ended with a high positive note. Among the speakers including the Chancellor of the university Syed Sibtey Razi and the Vice Chancellor AA Khan in their pithy address to a large gathering at senate hall believed that RU would emerge as the centre of excellence.

Near the Governor’s House the teachers of the university—both retired and working—under the banner of Federation of University Teachers’ Association, Jharkhand had a quite demonstration to fulfill their long pending demands: payment of arrears, gratuity, payment of the backlog of salary under the head of 5th Commission and implementation of 6th Pay Commission.

Razi did not deliver ceremonial sort of address. “In the coming days RU will emerge as the hub of academic excellence,” he said. But he soon reminded them the challenges the era of globalisation and market have placed upon the current education system.

“We need to bring a change in the education system. It must be connected with employment. What happens when a graduate of humanity subject passes out he has no clear picture of his future,” Razi said the audience which nodded with acceptance.

“The quality education,” Razi remarked, “is missing…and it can not be achieved until we provide world class infrastructure to make a change,” Razi said. He narrated the effort of China in this context which has erected State-of-art infrastructure for universities in the country. “Similar initiatives should be taken in our country and if RU has been erecting buildings it is the future of India in making,” Razi said, adding “the State Government will provide every support to the universities of the State to match the standard.

Razi told this in response to what Khan said about the initiative that RU has taken to improve infrastructure and academic performance.

“We have built new buildings and in the coming days we plan to build some more,” Khan said. One of the newly constructed MCA buildings was inaugurated by the Governor on Sunday. “The building of Applied Science could be inaugurated on November 11, which is celebrated as world information day,” Khan said. Three of the colleges of RU have been granted autonomous status, Khan proudly mentioned it.

Khan also informed about the new courses and schemes of RU and appealed the teachers and students to prepare for a switch over to semester and grading system. Khan ended his speech advising the gathering to make a difference between noise and signal of the current education system to extract the best result.

Over to Governor’s House where these teachers had surely not heard what Khan said. They blamed the university officials and babudom for their plight. They had high praise for Razi as the head of the State one who really took initiatives for the redressal of their grievances. “We are thankful to the Governor who has respect for teachers of the State and he has done a lot of for us,” Baban Chaubey of the association said.

Blame on the State bureaucracy as anti-teacher that often stymie the movement of their file with illogical file notes. There was only one bureaucrat Sukhdeo Singh whom they claimed the only bureaucrat who supported the just demand of the teachers.

Most notably they requested RU officials to clear the backlog of the retired university teachers. Some of them retired some 20 years back but their pension has not been fixed while some of them have the daily tour to the office of RU to get their outstanding backlogs cleared, they claimed.

Both the assemblage presented theirs’ side of story; over the megaphone, in this way or that.