Students to face brunt of cancelled contract

The law and engineering exams of the University of Mumbai scheduled to start from Monday could face problems due to a decision by the university to discontinue the services of a contractor without getting a replacement.

The vendor who transported answer-books to and fro from the exam centres for the past ten years said that as the contract has expired he has withdrawn the 50 vehicles that were used for the same. The university has, however, maintained that there will be no problems as are in the process of getting a replacement in place.

Speaking about the problem, a university employee attached to the examination section said, “Transporting of answer-booklets to exam centres and getting them back on the same day after the exams is a regular job. As the security of the answer booklets is of paramount importance the decision to discontinue the services of the contractor can spell huge problems.” He added that apart from answer booklets the vehicles also transported other stationery to the exam centres under the jurisdiction of the MU from Kalina campus.

Confirming the discontinuation of the services, Amit Desai, who was the contractor, said, “The contract expired on March 31 but the university asked me to continue the services for a month. On May 5, the university called me and asked me to stop the services. We have no option but to accept the university decision.” Even though the university may opt for an alternate services it could spell trouble as it is difficult to reach and find some colleges in far away places like Mokhada, Wada, Raigad, and so on, he added.

Dr M.A. Khan, registrar, MU, confirmed that the contract had expired and had not been renewed. “We are looking for alternates and are in the process of finalising it. The services being provided by the contractor were not specialised and hence there should be no problem. Changing vendors for better services is the usual norm of all government administrations and this is one of them,” said Dr Khan.