11/11/2017
PUNE: Facing
criticism over preconditions that only vegetarian and teetotaller students will
be eligible for a gold medal given by a trust, a Pune university today
said it has suspended the award instituted in the name of Yog Maharshi
Ramchandra Gopal Shelar.
Nitin Karmalkar, the vice-chancellor of Savitribai Phule Pune University
(SPPU), said talks will be held with family members of the Yog Maharshi, who is
known as Shelar Mama, over the possibility of removing the "vegetarian
only" condition. He said the university will review the eligibility
criterion for about 40 medals and awards sponsored by different people and
organisations and given during the university's convocation.
The university had in a circular informed affiliated colleges
and departments about the award instituted in the name of Shelar Mama for
meritorious post-graduate students from the non-science streams for the
academic year 2016-17. One of the 10 eligibility conditions that the
student should be a "vegetarian and teetotaller" invited sharp
criticism from various quarters.
Denouncing the criterion, Yuva Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray
had wondered if it was a university or a restaurant. Following the
controversy, the university had withdrawn the circular from its website. Talking
to reporters here, Karmalkar said, "We have decided to suspend the award.
We will have a discussion with family members of late Yog Maharshi Shelar Mama
to remove the condition."
Asked if family members and the trust of Shelar Mama did not
agree to remove the condition for the award, he said the university has the
right to scrap it. The VC said the terms and conditions were drafted by the
family of Shelar Mama in 2006. "The management council agreed to the
terms and conditions and the medal was launched," he said. He
reiterated the varsity does not differentiate between students on the basis of
their food habits. "In fact, it promotes equality and we believe that
students have freedom to eat whatever they want," he said.
The VC said the university will review in detail the terms and
conditions of around 40 awards and medals, instituted in the name of various
people, to remove any controversial criteria. Meanwhile, Maharashtra
Education Minister Vinod Tawde said all universities in the state should
respect the Constitution while setting the criterion for scholarships and
medals. No criteria should create disparity among students. Universities
are also directed not to accept such conditions or criterion from the sponsors
of scholarships and medals, the minister said.
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