Nagpur University 2012 Plan - Budget constraints force NU to drop online valuation plan

Nagpur University has had to drop its ambitious plans of online evaluation of answer sheets owing to budget constraints. NU officials preparing budget for next financial year of 2012-13 told TOI that the cash-strapped university could not afford Rs 20 crore per year system. TOI had been making the point that the new system made by Bangalore-based Mind Logic Infotech was not feasible for universities like NU having huge number of colleges (over 800) and students (over 4 lakh).

NU officials added that Mind Logic had insisted on a six years pact before supplying the system. This meant NU would have had to shell out minimum of Rs 120 crore over the next six years. For 2009-10 fiscal, NU's budget deficit was Rs 13.42 crore while for 2011-12 it was Rs 15.09 crore. For 2012-13, the deficit has been pegged at Rs 21 crore. In such a situation, there was no question of going in for the system, officials stated.

Senior management council member Baban Taywade, who will be presenting the budget during March 17 senate meet, stated no provision was made for the system. "This year it was not possible, we might think about it next year," Taywade said. He was a part of the group that had visited Mind Logic headquarters along with Controller of Examination (CoE) Siddharth Kane and deputy registrar Anil Hirekhan.

Finance and accounts officer (FAO) Puran Meshram, who drafted NU budget, said "how can we make provision without statutory bodies' approval? Unless the management council and other bodies make a policy decision, funds for the online system could not be allocated." Many members from NU's statutory bodies had objected to NU's decision to award contract to Bangalore-based company for six years without testing the system on pilot basis. They had expressed surprise over the pace with which it was decided to award the contract to company.

They said statutory bodies were not taken into confidence before making the decision and demanded an emergent meeting of senate to discuss the issue in detail. They raised serious doubts on entire deal asking about failure of earlier such schemes like providing results on phone through IVRS which never saw light of the day and experiment of second exam within a month of conducting summer exam to save academic year of the students.