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indianexpress: Strong action would be taken against University of Pune (UoP)-affiliated colleges found indulging in “harassment” of young teachers by denying them promotions for several years, warned vice-chancellor Narendra Jadhav during a discussion on delayed promotion of college teachers at a senate meeting on Tuesday.

As per norms prescribed by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), timely promotions of teaching staff is mandatory for all private and unaided colleges. However, promotions of employees to the senior and selection grade were delayed for several years. This was highlighted by senate member Sudam Dada Devkhile, who raised the issue during the question answer session.

Jadhav said that he had received several complaints of “harassment” of young college lecturers over the promotion issue. “Strict action needs to be taken against such colleges. If the university finds such cases, de-affiliation of the colleges will also be considered,” Jadhav said.

Board of Colleges and University Development (BCUD) chairman Pandit Vidyasagar said that camps to assess employees for promotion to the senior and selection grade are supposed to be carried out regularly by the colleges. “But we found that this was not being done, so the university has taken the initiative to conduct these camps in affiliated colleges,” he said.

Objections were also raised regarding the issue of local management councils (LMC) constituted at the college level. The LMC, which comprises various members including the principal, teachers and non-teaching staff representatives, is directly responsible for the planning and monitoring of colleges. Senate member Kisanrao Jadhav asked whether an LMC headed by an officiating or acting principal is valid, as nearly half of the affiliated colleges did not have full-time principals.

indianexpress:  If the State Government gives effect to its move to scrap the Urban Land Ceiling Act in the assembly session starting on November 1, more than 25,000 acres of land in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad will be released in the real estate market leading to fall in property prices in fringe areas. The real estate players in Pune — reaping benefits of the booming market — are now going all-out to ensure that the State government postpones the decision to scrap ULC.

According to the government estimates, over 25,000 acres of land will be available for development after ULC is scrapped. “The figure could be actually more as we are still looking into the details. The ULC Act imposes a ceiling on maximum holding of land by an individual in Pune to 1,000 sq mt. Once the Act is scrapped, those holding more than 1,000 sq mt could sell their land for development,” said an official.

The official said, “The Act will have to be scrapped, there is no way out. However, the builders lobby which has invested heavily in Pune and fringe areas is keen to ensure that the government postpones its decision so that they could recover the invested amount, which would be difficult once the market collapses.”

Lalit Kumar Jain, president of Promoters and Builders Association of Pune (PBAP), agreed that it was quite possible that property prices in fringe areas could come down. “But I don’t think that Act will be repealed so soon,” he said. When asked about the impact of scrapping of the Act on Pune real estate market, Jain said, “We have to wait and watch what kind of supply comes to the market.” He said the land that would be open for development in fringe areas after the ULC Act is scrapped would be much more than anticipated.

indianexpress: The inefficient handling of funds by the town planning department of Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) has resulted in a loss of over Rs 80 lakh to the civic body. In his report submitted to Municipal Commissioner Dilip Band two months back, chief auditor Sudhir Rajdarkar pointed out that due to the ‘illegal actions’ of the town planning department, the PCMC has suffered a loss of over Rs 80 lakh.

Land whether in the development plan or private land required for public purposes is acquired either through a government agency or by holding negotiations with the parties concerned.

“When land is acquired through a government agency, the amount paid is as per the government rates. Besides this, 30 per cent amount is given as solatium to the parties from whom is the land is being acquired,” says the 2003-04 audit report of PCMC. “But when land is acquired through direct negotiations, there is no need to pay 30 per cent additional amount. Nowhere in the law such a provision has been made,” says report.

But the 30 per cent dole even for land acquired through negotiations seems to have become a common practice after 2000. “There are at least 10 cases in which a total of Rs 80 lakh has been paid from the civic coffers without any reason. This runs contrary to the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894,” says the auditor in his report.

indianexpress: The University of Pune’s (UoP) decision to increase budgetary allocation for the restoration work of the main building — by Rs five crore — caused a stir at the senate meeting held on Tuesday. Some members claimed that the increase was not justified, as the existing allocation had not yet been utilised fully, and that the work had been held up for the past few months.

The UoP main building, regarded as a heritage structure, had been in a dilapidated condition and repair work had begun early this year upon the advice of heritage experts following two wall collapses in the building. While Rs one crore had been allocated in the budget discussed at the last senate meeting, this amount has now been increased to Rs six crore.

Senate members also objected to the decrease in funds for several other construction works on the campus such as that of the student hostels and other facilities, Jaykar Library extension work and Competitive Examination Centre repair works.

“The allocation has been increased for the main building, but decreased for some 25 other projects,” said senate member Gajanan Ekbote. “This denotes a shortcoming in planning.”

Defending the decision, vice-chancellor Narendra Jadhav said that the decrease in funds for certain projects was done on the basis of a mid-phase evaluation of whether the allocated funds had been fully utilised till date, and whether they would be utilised over the next six months.

However, senate member Nandkumar Nikam said that an inspection of the main building restoration site revealed that much of the work had been held up for nearly four months. “Only Rs 52.20 lakh of the allocated Rs one crore has been used in the past year,” he said.

indianexpress: The State Government on Tuesday approved the development control (DC) rules for the 23 merged villages in the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). “The decision was taken by Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh at a meeting with Urban Development Ministry and civic officials,” Municipal Commissioner Praveensinh Pardeshi said on Tuesday.

He said the move will allow speedy and planned development of the merged villages by providing basic infrastructure. Pardeshi said the chief minister has approved the new development control rules, promoting green housing, for these villages.

The decision of providing 15 per cent open space for all the residential projects has been made compulsory. The government has approved the change in DC rule which makes solar heater and rain water harvesting compulsory for all buildings coming up in these villages.

Also, a plan of mini township for projects on at least 10 hectare land has been adopted while making it mandatory for the developer to provide internal roads, amenities including school, playground and hospitals for the residents.

The setting up of sewage treatment plant has been made compulsory for all the residential complexes with at least 150 tenements.

indianexpress: Raising funds for construction of six schools for the underprivileged across three states in India are a bunch of 22 Dutch students — first year students of the New Business School (NBS) in Amsterdam — who are currently in Pune. While two of these schools are in Surat and one in Raipur, they have identified three schools in Pune in pursuance of their aim.

The Pune schools include the Shivaji Maratha school at Parvati, the Bhatkya Vimukta Jati Shikshan Sanstha at Wagholi and Gram Panchayat School at Sanaswadi. The students will be generating funds in collaboration with the NGO Round Table India. Social responsibility is a part of the curriculum of these students who visited the sites of the Pune schools and interacted with the children on Tuesday. “It helps these students get a brush with reality and know that things don’t come so easy. They have very different lives back home in Amsterdam and here as they meet these underprivileged kids, it gives them an incentive to work harder,” says Roger ABC Rammers, the professor at the business school and also a member of the Round Table India who has worked with the NGO on many projects earlier too.

The students will also be assessed and marked on this project and are expected to raise Rs 40-lakh for these schools by March next year. Since this project requires them to innovate and come up with means to raise funds, most of their efforts are going in spreading awareness about this project. “We are recording video clippings, clicking pictures and taking as much information as we can to authenticate the idea back in Amsterdam. Because there are so many projects like this, it takes a lot of convincing on our part to collect funds,” says 19-year-old Nastassia Epskamp, a figure ice-skater who has decided to put up performances of her skill to raise funds. Twentythree-year-old Yorick Reintjans says auctioning art is a good option too. “Another thing that we plan to so do is sell one classroom to one company. Which means the classroom will be in that company’s name and they will be in charge of it,” he adds.

indianexpress:  Due to maintenance and repair work, level crossing gate No 60 between Pimpri and Kasarwadi will remain closed from 10 am to 5 pm on Wednesday to road-users, Central Railway, Pune Division PRO Y K Singh said in a press note.

In another development, the Central Railway, Pune Division has announced a change in the timings of the L 27 local train temporarily on a trial basis in response to the demands by commuters. The train will depart at 6.10 pm instead of 6.15 pm for the period between November 1 to 30.

The train will depart at 6.16 pm from Shivajinagar station, 6.21 pm from Khadki station, 6.26 pm from Dapodi station, 6.30 pm from Kasarwadi station, 6.33 pm from Pimpri station, 6.37 pm from Chinchwad station, 6.42 pm from Akurdi station, 6.47 pm from Dehu Road station, 6.51 pm from Begdewadi station and 6.54 pm from Ghorawadi station.

At Talegaon, the train will arrive at 6.59 pm and depart at 7.12 pm subject to preference to the 1022 UP train. At Vadgaon, the departure time will be 7.17 pm.

The train will leave Kanhe station at 7.22 pm, Kamshet station at 7.26 pm and Malavli station at 7.34 pm. At Lonavla, the local will arrive at 7.48 pm.

indianexpress: With State cooperative minister and founder of Bharati Vidyapeeth Patangrao Kadam firm on his stand of banning vehicles on the Bharati Vidyapeeth (BV) road , the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on Monday announced its decision to put forward its stand in the Bombay High Court pressing for the opening of the road for light vehicles in the interest of the public.

“We met the state cooperative minister urging him to change his stand, but he is not willing to give up and there is not much the PMC can do against the state government order to ban vehicular traffic on the BV road,” Mayor Rajlaxmi Bhosale told reporters.

A letter has already been sent to Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh demanding a reconsideration of the state government decision, Bhosale said adding that a delegation of all party leaders will meet the chief minister soon to put forward the public demand.

The PMC had already conveyed its stand on the BV road issue in the past, she added.

“However, now the PMC will on its own become a party in the case filed in the high court by corporators challenging the state government order,” Bhosale said.

The mayor also said she will discuss the issue with district guardian minister and NCP leader Ajit Pawar.

indianexpress:  * Property No 1336 — falling under the Bhosari tax office of the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation — came into existence in 1983.

But the property was assessed for tax only in 2003-2004 — a good 20 years later.

* On property Nos 989 and 990 — in the jurisdiction of the Akurdi tax office — owner received completion certificate on December 3, 1987. The tax assessment for the property should have commenced that day; instead it was assessed only from April 1, 2003.

As MANY as 1,470 properties that came into existence years back were assessed only in 2003-2004 and the the prolonged delays - between 10 and 20 years - has resulted in a loss of Rs 40.32 lakh to the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation, say the two audit reports between 2002 and 2004.

“The total loss suffered by the PCMC due to non-assessment of properties and other regularities like under-assessment, wrong assessment is around Rs 80 lakh,” civic chief auditor Sudhir Rajdarkar told The Indian Express.

Pinning the blame on the property tax department, the audit report says: At the divisional level, there has been clear negligence and probably a deliberate attempt to bring advantage to some persons by delaying tax assessment. As a result, PCMC has suffered a loss for which the officers and departments concerned should be held responsible. The report says the property tax department had been repeatedly informed about the delay in tax assessment, yet it has chosen to “turn a blind eye to the entire issue.”

Rajdarkar says even the Bombay High Court has slammed the civic body for its negligence in conducting the audit. In 1999, the High Court had in fact asked the State Government as to why the civic body should not be dissolved for failing to conduct the audit since 1983.

indianexpress:  To reduce financial losses, the newly constituted Pune Metropolitan Transport Corporation Ltd (PMTCL) has decided to install horns on all buses. The move is likely to save Rs five crore annually.

“The horns of most of the buses are either stolen or damaged and the bus drivers raise the accelerator of the vehicle to signal the private vehicles to make way for the bus,” chief engineer Sunil Burse said today. He said the recent study on the impact of horns installed on two buses has resulted into increase in the mileage per litre of the vehicle.

“Both the buses showed improvement in their mileage by 300 metres per litre after horns were installed on them. We will save substantial fuel estimated to be worth Rs five crore in a year if all the 1,100 buses are installed with horns and they are used effectively by the bus drivers,” Burse said.

He said it was not that the PMT never installed horns on the buses, but they were either stolen or got damaged due to their place of installation.

“The horns will be water proof and at a place where they will not get damaged. Also, the equipment will be fixed in such a manner that it will not be stolen,” Burse said, adding that the horn button will have a sticker with a message in bold letters for its usage by the bus driver. Each horn will cost Rs 200, but they will not increase the burden on PMTCL, he added.

The new horns will be installed slowly with buses of each depot to be covered one after another, Burse said.