Nigavekar all set to navigate varsity into new millennium

PUNE, April 13: Arun Nigavekar, who took charge as the new Vice-Chancellor of University of Pune on Saturday, has a ``cherished'' desire: to...

PUNE, April 13: Arun Nigavekar, who took charge as the new Vice-Chancellor of University of Pune on Saturday, has a “cherished” desire: to lead the varsity into the 21st century, giving it a new direction. Overwhelmed by the abundance of goodwill that his appointment as the V-C has fetched, Nigavekar hopes to live up to everyone’s expectations.

Though he emphasised that certain old concepts followed in the university has to change — in keeping with the demands of the 21st century — it will have to be a synthesis of both the old and the new, he told mediapersons as he accepted charge from the acting Vice-Chancellor B D Chaure at a simple ceremony held here.

The new V-C also boldly faced the dissenting note to his welcome by the Ambedkar Teachers’s Organisation of Pune University (ATOPU), which held demonstrations against the varsity’s anti-reservation stand. They also submitted a memorandum to Nigavekar in this regard. Some 50-odd teachers belonging to ATOPU and Save Reservation Action Committee raisedslogans of Nigavekar chale jao and took out a protest march to various departments on the varsity campus.

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However, Nigavekar shrugged it off saying, “I can understand their emotions. In fact, it is good that this is happening. After all, everybody is equal and I believe there are good people in all categories — whether open or reserved. What is important is not who is the leader but the quality of leadership.” He added that it would not be proper to comment on his appointment as the V-C from the open category.

Having picked up the concept of `quality’ from his earlier posting as founder director of the National Accreditation and Assessment Council (NAAC), Nigavekar views his new posting important, coming as it does during the golden jubilee year of the varsity.

The university has made significant strides and has a very good foundation, Nigavekar said, adding that he was not a stranger to the varsity and had always been a part of it. “The only difference is that I will now be in the driver’s seat,”he said.