Indian Express: Mumbai: Tuesday, May 23, 2017.
THE HISTORICAL Convocation Hall of the University
of Mumbai has been used not only by the varsity for lectures but also rented
out to organisations or individuals for events and even Satyanarayan Puja,
according to a response under the Right To Information (RTI) Act. In the past 16 months, the Convocation Hall has been rented out on 61 occasions, to corporate
houses for annual events, university departments for workshops, media outlets
for TV shows as well as university staffers for Satyanarayan Puja, revealed the
response by the university to an RTI appeal by activist Anil Galgali.
In yet another revelation, it was found that there
was no uniformity in the rent collected from the different parties.
Of the 61 occasions, 23 were held for free —the university did not charge rent from the organisers
of the events. On the other hand, media organisation Kautilya Multi Creation
Pvt Ltd had to pay over Rs 1.48 lakh as rent for two days for a “TV show” in October last year.
Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies has
used the Convocation Hall on the Fort campus at least eight times in the past 16 months and it was charged differently every time, the information received
under RTI showed. The rent charged varied from Rs 25,600 to Rs 49,500.
In January last year, the Mumbai Vidyapith
Karamchari Mahapooja Samiti was permitted to hold a “Shree Satyanarayan Puja”
for free. That month, Bharat Swabhiman organisation was charged Rs 23,950 for an event titled “Yoga- Ayurveda for Advocates”.
In the 16 months, the varsity has
collected Rs 11,20,150 by letting out the Convocation Hall. Compared to the maintenance cost of
Rs 70,000 a month, the income was paltry, said Galgali.
“The manner in which the university is renting out
the Convocation Hall is very random. The Vice-Chancellor is also letting
corporate and media houses and outsiders make use of the iconic structure,
sometimes for free,” said Galgali, who has written to the Governor and
University Chancellor C Vidyasagar Rao seeking streamlining of the process of
renting the Convocation Hall.
University officials refuted the allegations. “As
an autonomous body, the university holds several events in partnership with
other organisations. All events are for the benefit of the students and related
to academics. Hence, in some cases, the university offers the hall for free as
a contribution to the event,” said registrar M A Khan. He said the rent for the
hall is decided by the registrar, the deputy registrar and vetted by the V-C.
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