Sanjay Deshmukh sacked as Mumbai University vice-chancellor following exam results declaration mess

Maharashtra Governor and Mumbai University Chancellor CH Vidyasagar Rao on Tuesday removed Sanjay Deshmukh as the vice-chancellor of the institution following the fiasco that the university faced over the delayed announcement of examination results due to a flawed digital assessment process. The removal of Deshmukh puts to rest the impending demands of the vice-chancellor’s resignation from different quarters following the uncertainty that thousands of students had to face due to the extremely delayed announcement of results this year. [caption id=“attachment_3915141” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Sanjay Deshmukh. News18[/caption] The Raj Bhavan released a press statement saying “Today, the Governor and Chancellor of University of Mumbai CH Vidyasagar Rao, in exercise of the powers conferred upon him under Section 11(14)(e) of the Maharashtra Public Universities Act, 2016 removed Dr Sanjay Deshmukh from the office of the Vice-Chancellor, University of Mumbai for his gross negligence and failure in implementing the On-Screen Marking system, to declare the results of examinations held in Summer-2017 within the time limit prescribed in the Act and for his failure to comply with the directions issued by the Chancellor from time to time, regarding early declaration of results.” After the long delay in declaring results of over four lakh Mumbai University students, the call for the resignation of Deshmukh had gained momentum slowly. On 26 September, Rao had cracked the whip and sought Deshmukh’s resignation, failing which he could face dismissal, The Times of India had reported. The vice-chancellor had also violated Section 11 (14) and 89 of the Maharashtra Public Universities Act as he did not submit a report to the chancellor, stating his failure to announce results before the deadline. Instead, he applied for leave “for personal reasons” on 9 August. Rao then appointed Shivaji University vice-chancellor Devanand Shinde as acting vice-chancellor of Mumbai University with immediate effect. Deshmukh had also not taken into consideration the staff crunch in the university . Since 1985, the number of colleges affiliated to the university has gone up to 748. The staff, even the non-teaching staff, is inadequate to handle the increasing workload. Even though Rao had asked Deshmukh to resign, sources revealed that the dominant opinion among Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Higher Technical Education Minister Vinod Tawde who met in September to decide the vice-chancellor’s fate, was that sacking Deshmukh won't be good either for Mumbai University , the vice-chancellor or the mangroves that 52-year-old Deshmukh has been researching on for years now. “The state government needs Deshmukh’s knowledge and expertise in the field,” sources at Rajbhavan and the Mantralaya had confirmed.