The callous treatment they get from Mumbai University and the lack of accountability of its authorities towards them has always been the cause of mental stress to the students of our University. Through no fault of theirs, students suffer many a time in terms of both money and time. Students have been facing these problems every year. Something similar happened to students of Mumbai University in the year 2014 as well. This time it was so bad that jobs of some and future studies of many others were under threat. The stakes were too high and the affected students decided to raise their voices and fight for justice.
The declared results for T.Y.B.Sc. (final B.Sc.) were late by a month and were a complete mess. Some students passed and still were not provided with their final grades, due to lack of updated systems in the University. Without these they could not have secured further admissions. For many students, grades in their final mark sheets were wrong, which again affected their overall grades. This in turn adversely affected their rank in the merit list for future admissions. Still worse, many good students were declared failed! When the University was questioned about this, students were advised to get the photocopy of corrected answer sheets and later get the papers rechecked. Of course they had to cough up money for that. And again, the whole process of revaluation is tiresome and takes much more time than expected. Such a casual behaviour of the University would have cost nothing less than a year to the students for no fault of theirs.
Again due to lack of accountability and poor management in the University system, nobody turned up to help these final year students. It was then that the Thane Youth Committee of the Lok Raj Sangathan (LRS) decided to help them. Our members were successful in getting together a large number of students from different colleges for this cause. They mobilised with all possible means using Facebook, WhatsApp, etc. When the students approached the authorities, they were bombarded with lame arguments and false assurances. On receiving the photocopies it was very evident how carelessly the papers, which decide the future of students, were checked.
During the course of the movement some political parties also intervened. Initially many of the students expected them to solve the issue. LRS members kept on insisting that we should keep fighting unitedly. With the passage of time the untrustworthy, false assurance-giving and non-reliable behaviour of the political parties was clearly visible to one and all. Many of the students who had initially trusted these parties later realised their true nature and their selfish motive of gaining publicity.
At one stage getting a stay on admissions from the court was considered, but very few students were ready for that. Apart from the expenses, there was no guarantee of justice of course – a telling reflection on our judicial system. In the end many students did approach a lawyer who told them that there was only a 5% chance that their problem would be solved by legal means. In addition, most students were afraid that if they went to the court, they would be harassed later by the university authorities when they enrolled for their post graduate studies – a telling reflection on the experience with the university authorities!
One thing that we must not forget to appreciate, is the spirit of the students who tried their best to get their grievances redressed. We must really appreciate the students who despite such problems came up and raised their voices against the system. The system has been running for years in just the same way, but these students kept their courage to raise their voices against the damage done to them for no fault of theirs.
It was only because of their united efforts, that after a struggle of about two months students got their successful results and saved their year! The university authorities also had to postpone the last day for M.Sc. admissions, so most of the affected students got admission in some or the other college. By this they have also set up an example for students in the coming years. And the students do not wish to stop here but continue the struggle and take it a step ahead.
– Lok Raj Sangathan Team
