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At Manipur University, senior faculty wait outside VC office, benami contractors chit chat

In 'Manipur University: Restoring Normalcy', former VC of Manipur University Jarnail Singh takes a dive into the issues that plague the university.

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When I joined as Administrator on 12 October 2018, I had received a warm welcome from the MU community. At that time, surprisingly I was somehow quite confident of restoring normalcy in MU. I had also planned that I should keep the outside players, some of whom had a direct and indirect hand in the agitation, away from the university and also develop a system in which outsiders do not play politics in the university. To a large extent, I was able to achieve this.

New to Manipur University

I was not new to Manipur as I had already served in Manipur state in different capacities for about 23 years and had excellent relations with all political persons, and public and state government employees. But I was quite new to Manipur University. I had known a couple of senior faculty members but I did not know much about the functioning of MU. It was only during the three months preceding October 2018 that I had been reading news about the agitation in MU which used to make headlines at the national level quite frequently.

Excellent Relations with MU Community

I met the representatives of MUSU, MUTA and MUSA for the first time on the afternoon of 12 October 2018. They were all very pleasant and treated me well. Whenever I discussed the release of the students and teachers from jail and the quashing of FIRs with the MU community and state government officials, they were very polite and always presented their viewpoints patiently.

MU for Education Delivery First and Last

I worked with three MUSU presidents and general secretaries. I found them all very amenable to discipline. Mayanglambam Dayaman Singh, Keisham Lebanan and Moirangthem Boby Singh were the three presidents of MUSU during my tenure. I never went into discussion with them with predetermined notions. I wondered how was it that my predecessor got into trouble with students and MUSU in May 2018. There must have been other issues that must have pushed MUSU into a confrontationist mode. I discussed important issues about students’ education, punctuality and the need for maintaining discipline in MU with MUTA and MUSU and they always agreed to improve punctuality.

Frequently, I also discussed issues about non-attendance of classes by some students, particularly in the Humanities and Social Sciences departments. I suggested action against the defaulting students. MUSU representatives always cooperated and suggested strong action so that MU was able to improve attendance in some of these departments. A few issues that I focused were:

A. How to increase students’ admission in MU?

B. How to improve the facilities in classrooms, departments, hostels and MU Library for students?

I always found that MU students were more concerned about studies and less about other issues.

Informal Working Style Helpful

I have always preferred an informal working style in the administration. I knew that if I am formal, many people would not come and discuss their problems and issues of the administration in detail. In a formal atmosphere, many persons do not open up and tell frankly what they actually feel about the MU administration. People hold back some information for fear of divulging too much to a senior person in authority. Informality helps in getting even that information from students which they would not otherwise divulge or share. My informal method of administration helped me in knowing more about students and their requirements. This in turn helped me in serving the student community better.

Patient Listening Useful

Whenever the students, faculty members or any employee come to meet the VC, he or she must be having some issues which require resolution. Rarely would someone come to meet the VC without any purpose. I met all students, teachers or employees, whosoever was keen to meet me. I listened to each patiently and even offered tea. After a person explains his/her issues in detail, it helps to unload his/ her mental load. Even when issues could not be resolved within the rules and regulations of MU, I would listen carefully and patiently to all students and faculty members to make sure that they develop confidence in the MU administration.


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Relations with Faculty Members

In my initial days, the office-bearers of MUTA and the faculty members supported me fully. A few months after my joining, I started insisting on punctuality and enalized some faculty members for not attending office in time. After this, a few of them felt a bit angry with me. I also found about half a dozen faculty members indulging in political manipulation to influence decisions in MU. Some would write letters to the UGC against the MU administration and some used to give political views on TV shows against the elected government. I advised them off and on and reminded them of the rules governing their conduct in and outside MU. However, the majority of faculty members was very cooperative and helped in the development of MU. Even when I did not agree with MUTA, I gave them a patient hearing and never felt bad about any suggestion to which I did not agree.

Unpunctuality Bothered Me

Unpunctuality bothers me a lot. I never ask employees to sit late as I myself want to leave office at the right time. Therefore when I found some habitual late comers in MU, it bothered me. In MU, I was frequently pained to see a number of faculty members come late and leave MU early. If a faculty member comes early and is available in his or her office, I am sure that some students would like to come and meet him/her and discuss issues of academic interest. These discussions outside the classroom build the confidence of students.

The class attendance in the Science streams was good, but the attendance in some Arts streams was not satisfactory. The class attendance in a way depicts the interest of students in that particular subject. Poor attendance also reflects on the lack of interest created by the faculty members among students about their subjects. In any case, there was a need to improve attendance in MU classes so that the delivery of education improves.


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General Perception of A-Block

Students, faculty and other persons visiting MU often complained that the administration was too slow in disposal of matters. They would refer to the slow disposal of work by the persons sitting in the A-Block of MU, which related to general administration, financial matters and the engineering/construction issues. I also noted the slow disposal of work by the administration wing, which partly was due to delay in decision-making by the VC. To make sure that students and faculty members change their perception about A-Block, I never delayed any file for more than 30 minutes on my table. I also allowed all persons who were unhappy by the delayed decisions to meet me if they required my help.

More Focus Needed on Research

The ranking of MU depends on various factors, which include the students-teacher ratio, academic and research facilities, infrastructure facilities, etc. It is not easy to improve ranking in one year but it can be improved over the years by continuous efforts. In the academic session 2020-21, MU had 1,103 research scholars out of a total of 6,943 students—or about 17 per cent of the students’ strength. But the quality of the research work which gets reflected by publications and patents is not there. There are some factors hampering the excellence in research work which need attention. 

A Few Faculty Members Fond of TV Appearances

I found that a few faculty members were quite fond of appearing on TV shows/interviews and making their presence felt on social media. Maybe they have some political ambitions or have seen some predecessors entering politics through MU. There is no harm in that provided they are able to produce excellence in academics. Moreover, they are also required to follow the Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1964 which prohibit certain political activities. Freedom of ideas and thoughts is allowed in universities but there are limitations. The state and national policies cannot be openly degraded by persons who are paid employees. Some senior faculty members have been teaching less in MU and leaving the teaching to junior faculty members. They required self-discipline as the VC cannot be a policeman to check attendance and enforce punctuality. It must come automatically and the sincerity of teachers should be role model for the students.


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No-Nonsense Persons Needed in MU

The outsider politicians/contractors and benami contractors have had a negative influence on academics in MU. This has been the bane of MU. Imagine a situation where a senior faculty member is waiting outside for hours to meet the VC while a benami contractor and other persons who have nothing to do with MU are sitting inside the VC’s office and chatting for hours. Such happenings permanently damage the reputation of a university from being a place for academics to a place where non-academics has a bigger say. A few outsiders caused damage to MU which was unfortunate. It can happen again if a sensible person is not appointed VC.

A strong VC and a rule-abiding Registrar as well as Finance Officer can reduce the influence of outsiders in MU. It is difficult for the VC to violate rules and run the administration as per his or her whims if the lower-level functionaries follow rules and focus on accountability and transparency. I noticed that a few petty contractors had been trying to indulge in blackmail of some functionaries of MU. 

Media Reports Sometimes Dampen Initiatives

Some people had been habitual users of RTI (Right to Information) Act and of planting fabricated news in the media. Some would publish news about MU and its senior functionaries in the name of some individuals and self-styled organisations that do not exist. Quite often, I noticed that such news used to dampen the initiatives of the MU functionaries. In such a situation where a few outsiders are ready to create mischief in MU and some persons from MU are also ready to become partners in the mischief, MU needs a no- nonsense VC who does not care about adverse publicity and who focuses on improving the quality of education in MU. He/she should not be too sensitive to news, some of which could be often planted, by vested interests to discourage MU from taking action against wrongdoers. He/she should remain undeterred and move forward with the objective of delivering better education.

During my tenure, I noticed incorrect news appearing about MU a few times. But I did not bother. I was able to guess the individuals who were behind it. Such activities do not remain hidden for long. I remained determined and worked fearlessly. That is what I have learnt in life. Whenever I faced adverse situations, I always remembered the words of Lord Krishna to Arjuna in the Kurukshetra battlefield of Mahabharata. My father used to sometimes also tell me about this while taking me to school. The words were: ‘Do your Karma fearlessly and do not worry about results. Leave the result to God.’

This excerpt from ‘Manipur University: Restoring Normalcy’ by Jarnail Singh has been published with permission from Konark Publishers.

 

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