Devendra Fadnavis assures probe as MU vice-chancellor tells Congress that results will not be out before 16 August

Mumbai: Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis Thursday assured the state legislative council that he would investigate whether the pending results of the Mumbai University could not be declared before 16 August. He was responding to a Congress member’s information that the MU vice-chancellor (VC) Sanjay Deshmukh himself has told his party delegation that results could not be declared before August 16. [caption id=“attachment_3074800” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. PTI[/caption] The Opposition parties alleged that Fadnavis was being misled by the VC over the declaration of results. Raising the issue in the upper house, senior NCP member Sunil Tatkare said the prevailing mess and delay in declaration of results was due to the vice-chancellor’s “ignorance” and he should therefore be asked to resign. “The government should also tell the students about what went wrong with the assessment process and help those who wish to go abroad for further studies. Their future has become uncertain because of the VC,” Tatkare said. Participating in the debate, Congress member Sanjay Dutt said that although the chief minister as well as the state education minister had assured the House earlier that all the pending results would be out by 5 August, the VC has himself admitted that completion of assessment was not possible before 16 August. “A Congress delegation led by (city Congress chief) Sanjay Nirupam met the VC yesterday and he himself admitted that all the pending results cannot be declared before August 16. The VC has misled the CM and the education minister,” he said. In his reply, Fadnavis said that the information provided by Dutt was new to him and he would investigate it. “Results are coming out everyday and I am getting a status report as well. However, the information provided today is new to me and I will investigate it,” Fadnavis said. “The Governor is the appointing authority for the VC and he has taken up the matter seriously and probing it. The governor will ensure action against whoever is guilty,” the chief minister added. Last week, the Maharashtra government had ordered an inquiry against Deshmukh over his role in implementing the new online assessment system, which has resulted in a delay in declaration of examination results. Minister of State for Higher Education Ravindra Waikar earlier told the state assembly that an inquiry would be initiated against Deshmukh about the manner in which the new assessment system was implemented.