The Mumbai University (MU) spends far lesser than what it receives from students for revaluation and photocopying of examination books, RTI activist Aakash Vedak alleged on Wednesday.
Ahead of a hearing in the matter scheduled on Friday, by the State Information Commission (SIC), the MU had last week shared its budget book data with Mr. Vedak.
According to him, he received a copy of it after seeking intervention from the Governor’s office in light of repeated refusals by the MU.
“The MU provided pages from its budget books to me rather than giving information in simple format that I sought through my RTI. I had asked for information on income and expenditure regarding revaluation and photocopying of answersheets from 2010 to 2017. According to the MU, they do not have separate heads for accounts maintained for the same,” Mr. Vedak said.
Mr. Vedak studied the data from the budget book (which has been accessed by The Hindu ). “The trends are similar. The budget estimates of 2011-2012 revealed that it collected ₹3,75,10,613 for revaluation and ₹30,45,203 for photocopying of answer books, but spent only ₹2,79,43,272 on revaluation and ₹13,08,135 on photocopying. Similarly, in the academic year 2016-2017, the amount collected for revaluation was ₹5,29,76,240 and ₹16,39,355 for photocopying, but spent was ₹2,01,71,960 and ₹8,03,460 respectively.”
Mr. Vedak has demanded that the MU lower the rates and for an inquiry into where the money went. “The MU needs to reduce the fees for revaluation and photocopying. It should take nominal fees only,” he said.
He has also demanded that the MU create a student welfare fund from the remaining sum. “We don’t know yet where the money goes, according to the pages that the MU has sent. The fund that is in excess can at least be utilised for meeting various requirements of students in the university campus,” he said.
A law student from a Thane college, Mr. Vedak fiiled a appeal in December 2017. While the MU had provided information on income, it did not provide information on expenditure.
Mr. Vedak filed a second appeal and the SIC in its verdict in April 2018 ordered the MU public officer to give the information about the expenditure by April 28. When the university failed to comply with the order, the activist complained to the SIC again in May. The SIC fined MU ₹25,000 and set December 10 as the new deadline. When it did not meet it again, Mr. Vedak went to the Governor, who asked the VC to look into the matter.
MU PRO Vinod Malale was unavailable for comment.
