The despicable management of legendary JJ!

The AICTE has not just been pushed into suspending the accreditation of J J School of Art, but it was the Dean of the School of Art who invited the trouble for itself. The reason being, AITCE regularly sends communications to institutes about accreditation, required inspection and appropriate notices too are sent for compliances. For example, when will the AICTE team come to college for inspection? Does the day and time suit the college authorities and if not, suitable changes are made to this schedule. Despite being a government body, minute details like these are taken care of. 

This clearly means the AICTE must have sent timely communication to J J School of Art in this regard, mentioning the dates of the inspection. But Sable was so busy completing the outside-of-college assignments that he clearly ignored the AITCE communique and notices. Not just this, he probably did not even see them and put them in the dustbin. The thought behind this could be why should I be worried? No one can do anything to a government institute.

In fact, the way Sable was appointed and then unexpectedly got promoted (which is not usually the fate of any government art teacher or officer). On the contrary, for example, the art teachers Shrikant Jadhav, Anant Nikam and Anil Naik from the same J J, who are meritorious, respected artists and loved as teachers too, had to retire on the same position three decades after they joined the same position. When in position of power, Sable dominated the very teachers who taught him and enabled him for his current position. This one-upmanship must have led to unpleasant incidents, not once or twice but many times! And it would not be a surprise if such acts have angered the AITCE officials, resulting in the withdrawal of JJ’s accreditation.

On further inquiry a retired teacher revealed that during the 12 to 13 years of Sable’s tenure as Dean, the AICTE committee visited the college just once. If so, this is a terrible thing. The AICTE regularly sends letters and notices to educational institutions for inspection. Utmost secrecy is maintained while conducting these visits. Officials are informed about the names of the educational institutes at the last moment – almost a method like that used by RAW. The inspection standards are so strict that officials at the college cannot fake anything happening there, because ultimately it is the students who would suffer the most. 

(“Who is the AICTE to tell us anything? Our college is 166-year-old legendary institute!” Those who ask such questions on social media must read the following points) The AICTE is so careful that when their committee visits the college, they make sure there are no events being organized. The forms college must fill in are meticulously drafted and later scrutinized. How many teachers are there in college? How many professors? How many classes are there? How many other employees? Is there a lab? How many computers are there? Is there a computer lab? Are the boys and girls’ toilets in usable condition? How is the staff room? How many peons are there in college? Is their correct number mentioned in the form? If the AICTE have even a mere suspicion, they ask the organization to call the peons in person. This should give an idea of how sensitively the AICTE is working to strengthen the education system in India.

Of course, AICTE is also a government body but a central government body. JJ School of Art comes under the Maharashtra State Government. So, Sable must have assumed that nobody could do anything to him. In that superiority complex, he probably threw the frequent letters sent by the AICTE in the dust bin!

Another alarming information that has come our way is that Sable gave the responsibility of filling the AICTE forms to a contract teacher namely Yashwant Bhavsar. Bhavsar is a student of Metalcraft and is currently assigned to the Metalcraft Department. There is no way to know why Sable appointed him to fill in the AICTE form. In fact, it was imperative that an experienced officer from the administrative department of the college should have been appointed for this important task. But Sable probably noticed some administrative qualities in Bhavsar and that is why he was appointed to do the job! People say Bhavsar is mostly absent in his classes. He does his or Sable’s professional work sitting at either his home or studio. In case he is questioned about it, he openly says, “Sable sir has asked me to fill in the form of AICTE. I am filling it sitting at home.” And so on. In fact, filling the AICTE forms of an Art college like JJ, which has a tradition of 166 years requires a knowledgeable, experienced, and senior teachers or administrative officers so that there are no errors in the filled form. This is so because only they can provide accurate information. But sadly, Sable appointed a contract teacher to do this important job. (This whole issue of contract teachers is terrible. Sable routinely travels out of Mumbai, to faraway places for the assignments that he has amassed using JJ’s name. Due to which he is frequently on leave. And when on leave the responsibility of the JJ is handed over to the temporary teachers working on contract. Isn’t this terrifying! We have repeatedly written about this with evidence. But when will the Directorate of Arts wake up?) Will Bhavsar continue to fill in the AITCE compliance form sitting at home? Obviously, he did not fill it. And as for Sable, he is too busy with his personal projects and therefore, he too missed this important compliance.

Such things have happened thrice in the 12-year career span of Sable. Sourav Vijay, who was the education secretary in previous government’s tenure, had settled the matter of AICTE accreditation. After that, Vinay Rastogi became the Education Secretary. When the same thing happened again, he settled the matter with the AICTE officials. However, Sable did not learn from his past mistakes. This year too he committed the same mistake. Though, Vinay Rastogi is still the Education Secretary, this time around the matter has gone beyond control. This time Rastogi tried to settle the matter by sending in-charge Art Director Rajeev Mishra to Delhi. But this time, the AICTE officials were not in a mood to listen. As a result, the recognition of JJ School of Art has been postponed till November (because the committee related to recognition meets in November). We have learned that the AICTE officials had raised the question whether the erring official has been served a show cause notice or not? It seems this is the secret behind the show cause notice issued by the Higher and Technical Education Department to Mr. Sable.

It is difficult to predict what will happen next. But it is certain that the matter has become serious now. Otherwise, why would the Higher and Technical Education Department issue a show cause notice to Sable. According to rules, the notice should have been served to Sable by the Art Director. But since the Art Director is also at fault here, the Higher and Technical Education Department intervened and served notice directly to Sable. Now Art Director Rajeev Mishra too would have to issue another notice to Sable. And it should not be surprising if there is an inquiry as to why no action was taken when notice was served to Sable. Many teachers at JJ campus too want such an inquiry into this. The reason being Rajiv Mishra is doing nothing for Architecture College as the Principal or as Director for the Art Directorate. Many wonder what Mishra does during the day at the Mantralaya because he mostly arrives at JJ at 7 in the evening. According to many, Mr Mishra only frequents ministers’ or secretaries’ cabins throughout the day. No one knows the truth. But the in-charge Art Director Rajeev Mishra is equally guilty in this case.

No doubt the AICTE recognition issue is very serious. Yet some believe JJ’s De-Novo plan is likely to sail through smoothly. We wait and keep a close watch!

******

Satish Naik

Editor

www.chinha.in