I am not a dictator, get info through RTI any time: Kane

Times of India: Nagpur: Friday, September 28, 2018.

Responding to charges of making an undemocratic decision in banning question hour, Nagpur University (NU) vice-chancellor SP Kane on Thursday said his move is only intended at optimum utilization of senate’s time and not muzzle freedom of speech.

He also suggested that members can avail Right to Information (RTI) Act to seek information on administrative matters instead of waiting for the limited senate meetings.

“I am not a dictator. The window to hold administration accountable is still open. If senate members want to raise genuine questions, they can still route them through resolution. When the resolution is placed before the House, the VC can ask question to the administration. The administration can ask the member about the purpose of the resolution,” Kane said.

He said that through the resolution, members can ask 30 questions instead of just three as given in the now-scrapped statute.

The VC is facing heat from all NU outfits following his decision to scrap the provision of ‘interpellation’ the process of asking questions to administration during the business of senate. Cutting across party lines, members from Shikshan Manch, Secular Panel, Nagpur University Teachers’ Association, and Young Teachers Association have called Kane a ‘dictator’ for the undemocratic move earlier this month.

Challenging the members, Kane said the directives are temporary arrangement and the members need to convert them into statute. “My direction is valid only for six months. Members have the freedom to rip my decision apart when they get the new statute passed by the chancellor. The ball is in their court,” he said.

The VC said the Management Council okayed setting up of the statute committee led by RG Bhoyar on Thursday and it can start with this particular direction.

Kane said that a lot of time was eaten up in question hour while serious issues took a beating during the last senate meeting and therefore, he came up with the solution.

Asked what remedy members have to get information, Kane said he believed that RTI Act was a good option. “The impugned statute of 2001 provided for question hour because then there was no provision for members to get information about the university administration. In 2005, the RTI was implemented and members can avail the facility at any time of the year while the senate meets only for a couple of times,” he said.