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All naked in the hammam!
A good example of what happened when the candidates were appointed without applying the criteria of merit and qualification is the Directorate of Art and the four Government Art Colleges under their jurisdiction, including important institutes like the JJ School of Art. Art education in Maharashtra, which was once at the highest position in all the states of India, has literally been ruined today. One more example of how this all happened is the selection of the Dean of the Government Art and Design College, Aurangabad. This article dissects the same…
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It seems that Maharashtra Government has decided to take the necessary steps with a view to undo the mess prevalent in the Directorate of Art, and now the news is surfacing that the Higher and Technical Education Minister seems to have focused his attention to this matter. It’s difficult to believe, but something like that is actually happening. We have got copy of a letter through whatsapp which was sent by the Art Director on 7th December, 2023. The subject of the Marathi letter is: ‘Regarding the misconduct and illegal activities of Mr Ramesh Subhash Vadje, Principal, Government College of Art & Design, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar’ (Previously, Aurangabad).
In fact, it is essential to investigate as to whether Mr Ramesh Vadje has done any work whatsoever which falls within the norms and rules in his career so far, but nonetheless, there is no doubt that if the Minister of Higher and Technical Education has started to take some action in this regard, it is certainly necessary to welcome it. In this regard, Chinha has got a copy of a letter written by the City District President of the Republican Party of India (Athawale Group) Mr Nagraj Gaikwad regarding Mr Vadje. Mr Gaikwad has written that letter to Higher and Technical Education Minister Chandrakant Dada Patil on 7th December, 2023. He probably handed it over to Dada on the same day, and Dada also probably handed over the letter to Rajiv Mishra, the in-charge Art Director, on the same day. The letter would probably have been marked ‘Urgent’ because Art Director (in-charge) Rajeev Mishra was forced to take immediate action and he would probably have sent an inquiry letter to Mr. Ramesh Vadje on the same day. Probably no one in the history of Directorate of Art has been able to show such readiness so Mr Rajeev Mishra deserves to be congratulated.
We are attaching both the said letters as they are.
It is imperative to present here the questions that came to our mind due to these letters.
For instance, …
1) In this letter, Mr. Nagraj Gaikwad mentions having sent about six letters to the Art Director and the Education Secretary making serious complaints about Mr. Vadje in about two years, why Mr. Mishra and Mr. Rastogi did not want to take cognizance of those letters?
2) A few months ago, while Education Secretary Rastogi went to visit the institution at Sambhaji Nagar, Mr. Vadje left for his home taking leave citing health reasons, what action was taken by the Education Secretary?
3) Why didn’t the government feel the need to take any action against Mr. Vadje despite the fact that the newspapers published very serious news about Mr. Vadje’s mismanagement?
4) When very serious objections were raised regarding the appointment of Mr. Vadje, why did the government not conduct an inquiry on time?
5) Is there any truth in the allegation made by those who are going to suffer due to the decision of putting some employees into the ‘redundant cadre’ which was allegedly created to cover up the mistakes made in the appointment of Mr. Vadje and another Dean? Is the government going to investigate this matter now?
6) Is the government going to investigate the officer in the Mantralaya who is being widely accused in the JJ campus of having hatched this conspiracy?
7) The said officer has been in the higher and technical education department for almost six years (according to the rules, any officer can stay in that position only for three years), Is the government going to remove him from that position now?
8) Why is the Higher and Technical Education Department delaying answering the questions asked by the Supreme Court regarding the ‘redundant cadre’ for the last seven to eight months?
9) Why Education Secretary Rastogi did not want to question the concerned people despite Supreme Court’s push? What exactly is the matter?
10) Can an official holding the post of Dean of an almost 50-year-old Government Art College take education in a relatively new Art College?
11) Isn’t it mandatory for him to take the permission of the Art Director for that?
12) Basically how a student having done GD Art gets admission directly to MFA?
13) How can a government employed “full time” Dean in a government art college in Sambhajinagar go to another art college and do a “full time” course?
14) Someone may do such a thing, but were his superiors (ie the Art Director, of course) taking a nap while he was doing it? Why did he never want to ask this question? When Chandrakant Dada pointed this out, did the Art Director not feel ashamed, while he sent a letter to Vadje within eight hours?
15) Art Director is foolish but even the Education Secretary also did not think anything is wrong in this?
| What exactly is wrong?
For at least the last two decades, the minimum educational qualification for appointment to the post of assistant professor in colleges has been a master’s degree. Not only that, but it has been 12 to 15 years since the rule has been amended from time to time to require NET exam qualification in addition to Master’s degree and in case of not passing NET, a Doctorate (PhD) as an alternative. Despite that, how can a person without such prerequisite educational qualification be appointed as a professor in a college? Not only that, but how can that person be appointed to the post of Dean / Principal without completing the basic educational qualification for that post? And how is it that after being appointed to that post, the person is allowed to go to another college to complete his post-graduate studies while still holding the post of principal? Dean / Principal post is not just teaching on hourly basis on contractual basis. In addition to teaching, the office administration work, overall management of the institution etc. is a very big responsibility in the post of Dean / Principal. That being the case, which principal can study part time while working part time? If it is possible take such education only as part time, then certainly that degree will not be a full time degree. If so, even after taking such degree, the minimum educational qualification for the post of assistant professor is not fulfilled. Let alone the qualification for the post of Principal. On the other hand, how can one completely discharge the responsibilities of a principal if one goes into higher education leaving half the responsibilities? If one wants to pursue higher education while still working, then one has to take study leave with due permission from the institution. Such a study leave is usually taken to pursue a full-time PhD, usually for a duration of 3 years. During that time, you get no salary or get much less than half or less as per the rules of the institution. And an alternate person is appointed to your position so that the work is done properly. All these provisions are nothing new, but are common rules for the smooth functioning of any educational institution. However, none of these rules seem to be followed here. |
The distance between Aurangabad and Amravati is about 300-350 kilometers. Is it possible for anyone who is working as Dean in Aurangabad, to travel 650 km daily from Amravati to and fro Aurangabad? It is not surprising that not a single officer in the Higher and Technical Education Department asks any such question – It is a pity. It is shameful, shame on such officials who are sitting in strategic positions in the Mantralaya and Directorate of Art. This is utterly disgusting.
What’s more alarming is that the art college where Mr. Vadje is shown to have taken admission to study MFA, that is, – Dr Sanjay Kurhe Art College – does not even teach sculpture as a subject, sources say. Even other art education institute directors in Amaravati express their inability to answer in this regard, then the question arises that Vadje Saheb did his MFA from where exactly? (Education Secretary, Art Director you will have to answer these questions. Because while writing this, while checking the website of Sanjay Kurhe College, I found all the subjects from pencil drawing to ceramics classes, but did not see locate anything about sculpture. Can someone with more foresight than me clear my ignorance of this? Can anyone explain to me the meaning of the word ‘Creative Sculpture’ mentioned in the Marklist published by Kavikulguru Kalidas Sanskrit University (see Feature image at the beginning of the article)? Can anyone send the photo of sculpture made by Vadje’s who scored 215 marks out of 300?
The last question I have is a terrible one. What if Mr Vadje is investigated due to the letter written by Mr Nagnath Gaikwad and he is found guilty, what will happen to the MFA degrees of other college teachers in Maharashtra who have done MFA from Sanjay Kurhe Modern Art College in the same way?
There is so much to write and I am going to write more but this is all for now!
Satish Naik
Editor, Chinha Art News
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