TNAU gets ICAR funds for improving academics

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

COIMBATORE, AUGUST 03, 2019 00:00 IST

Tamil Nadu Agricultural University has secured Rs. 30 crore from the Indian Council for Agricultural Research under National Agricultural Higher Education Project.

A release from the University said the funding was for three years, starting 2019-20.

The TNAU competed with 64 state agricultural universities for securing the project, which would enable it to strengthen learner-centric environment by adopting innovative techniques in teaching, promote student and faculty diversity, leverage alumni network among others in nine constituent colleges covering six UG programmes.

As part of the project, the release said, scientists and academics from the University would get to visit universities abroad for exchange of ideas.

The release also said that the TNAU getting the funding followed the steps taken by Vice-Chancellor N. Kumar to gain ICAR accreditation.

Anna varsity recommended for IoE status

R. Sujatha

CHENNAI, AUGUST 03, 2019 00:00 IST

Anna University has been recommended for the Institute of Eminence status by the University Grants Commission. The awarding of the status, however, rests on the outcome of consultation with the State government.

Under the scheme, the selected institutions would receive Rs. 1,000 crore funding for five years. The institutions on their part must raise 20% from within. In the case of State universities, 50% of the funding will have to come from the State. Higher Education Secretary Mangat Ram Sharma said based on the guidelines from the Central government the State would provide the funding.

The IIT Madras has also been recommended to be declared as Institute of Eminence.

‘No stipend for students who fail to submit sureties’

Legal Correspondent

CHENNAI, AUGUST 03, 2019 00:00 IST

HC told their studies won’t be affected

The State government has decided not to disrupt the studies of postgraduate medical degree and diploma course students who fail to submit, within three months, sureties from two government employees along with bonds for Rs. 40 lakh and Rs. 20 lakh respectively to assure that they would serve the government for two years after completing the course in government colleges.

Advocate-General Vijay Narayan told Justices S. Manikumar and Subramonium Prasad of the Madras High Court that the defaulters would not be paid stipend for the entire period of study if they do not submit the sureties. The stipend would be paid in lump sum after completing the course if the doctors agree to be in government service for two years.

When the senior judge in the Division Bench questioned how the government could force doctors to work only for it and not take up jobs in private hospitals, the A-G said the State spends around Rs. 2 crore to educate every postgraduate medical student. Hence, it becomes their bounden-duty to serve the poor and needy who approach government hospitals. The submission was made during the hearing of a public interest litigation petition filed by T.K. Saravanan of Chennai, through his counsel S. Ayyathurai, against the insistence on submitting sureties from government servants.

The petitioner feared that students who could not obtain such sureties might face the threat of being asked to quit studies midway. However, after the A-G assured the court that the fears were unfounded, the judges wanted the assurance to be filed in the form of an affidavit by Tuesday. They sought details regarding the vacancy position of government doctors by then so that appropriate directions could be issued.

In a counter affidavit that had already been filed in reply to the PIL petition, A. Sugavanam, Joint Secretary, Health and Family Welfare department, stated that there were 24 government medical colleges in the State and 48 government hospitals attached to medical colleges. There were also 29 district headquarters hospitals and 1,806 primary health centres (PHCs).

In order to serve them, the government had made it mandatory for government doctors who want to pursue post graduation, under a special quota for them, to undertake to serve the government till their retirement.

It also requires non service doctors to serve the government for two years in non scarce specialities and for five years in scarce specialities. Pointing out that none of the doctors had refused to give such a bond so far, the court was told that even the present PIL petitioner was an advocate by profession and not a doctor.

The government also expressed concern over a majority of doctors refusing to serve the poor in government hospitals after pursuing postgraduate courses in government colleges.

“During the past five years, the government has given posting orders for 338 non-service candidates after the completion of post graduate degree/diploma courses but only 228 had joined. Further, 20 candidates left service before completing the tenure and 110 did not turn up,” the counter read.

The State spends around Rs. 2 crore to educate every postgraduate student. Hence, it is their duty to serve those who approach government hospitals

Vijay Narayan

Advocate-General

Medical students protest against NMC Bill

STAFF REPORTER

CHENNAI, AUGUST 03, 2019 00:00 IST

Students of Madras Medical College boycotted classes and staged a sit-in near the Dean’s office in Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital on Friday.B. Jothi Ramalingam

Proposals for bringing in Community Health Providers and NEXT singled out for attack

About 400 students of Madras Medical College (MMC) boycotted classes and staged a sit-in on Friday.

They were protesting against the National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill which, according to them, would disrupt the healthcare system.

Under the banner of Tamil Nadu Medical Students Association, second, third and final year MMC students, and also many from Government Medical College, Omandurar Estate, boycotted classes and participated in the day-long protest from 8 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. on the MMC campus.

The protesting students said that bringing in Community Health Providers would affect the rural healthcare system in Tamil Nadu, the National Exit Test (NEXT) would impact the quality of doctors and replacing the Medical Council of India (MCI) with NMC would result in poor representation of doctors from States. According to the Bill, persons connected with the medical profession could be granted limited licences to practise medicine as Community Health Providers. These persons can prescribe specified medicines independently, but only in a primary and preventive healthcare context.

“We study medicine for five-and-a-half years of which one year is for Compulsory Rotatory Residential Internship. How can Community Health Providers learn medicine in a few months of training and prescribe medications at the primary health centre level? This will affect healthcare in villages, and it will be disastrous for a State like Tamil Nadu that has come a long way in rural health,” one of the protesting students said.

Opposing NEXT, the students said as of now, they have theory and practical examinations conducted by the medical university in the final year of MBBS. “NEXT will contain multiple choice questions, and this will only result in mushrooming of coaching centres like that for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test,” another student said.

The students lamented the lack of clarity on NEXT, its pattern or subjects that would be covered. “There are no proper guidelines. With NEXT, our clinical orientation and understanding will be lost,” he said. Some students said there was no clarity on what would happen if students failed to clear NEXT. As per the Bill, NEXT would be the basis for admission to postgraduate courses.

On NMC replacing MCI, the students said it would result in loss of autonomy and NMC, a nominated body, would not have adequate representation of doctors from States.

UGC names 20 institutions for eminence tag

Priscilla Jebaraj

NEW DELHI, AUGUST 03, 2019 00:00 IST

The chosen universities will be given greater autonomy an d freedom to decide fees and course durations.* FILE PHOTO

Five private ones among those denied the status due to absence of rankings

The IITs Madras and Kharagpur, Delhi University, University of Hyderabad, Amritha Vishwa Vidyapeetham and VIT are among the 20 institutions recommended for the grant of the Institute of Eminence status by the University Grants Commission on Friday.

However, the UGC denied the tag to five private universities — Azim Premji University, Ashoka University, KREA University, Indian Institute for Human Settlements and the Indian Institute of Public Health — on the grounds that they have not been placed in any global or national rankings. Since their exclusion left a vacant slot on the list of private universities given the tag, the Satya Bharti Foundation — telecom major Airtel’s philanthropic arm — became the second greenfield institution to be given IoE status, after Jio Institute which is backed by the Reliance Foundation.

“We considered two types [of institutions], those who are already ranked well and those which are potential institutions. We might have felt something has potential, but government may feel something else, they may have felt that if an institution is not ranked at all, it cannot be considered. It is entirely justified,” said N. Gopalaswami, former Chief Election Commissioner who headed the expert panel which initially identified the list of IoEs.

The scheme is aimed at developing 20 world-class institutions which would put India on the global education map.

Five public universities also did not make the cut. Tezpur, Panjab and Andhra Universities were left out as they are not ranked. Savitribai Phule Pune University and Aligarh Muslim University are both in the same 801-1,000 ranking slab in the QS World rankings as the Benares Hindu University; however, BHU squeaked through as it was higher placed than the other two in the India rankings.

Anna University and Jadavpur University have been given the IoE tag on a conditional basis as they are state universities, and will be finalised only after the Tamil Nadu and West Bengal governments issue an official communication allocating their share of funds (up to 50%).

The other institutions which have been recommended for IoE status are Jamia Hamdard, Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology, OP Jindal University and Shiv Nadar University.

UGC nod to IIT-Madras for ‘Institutions of Eminence’ tag

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:03.08.2019

IIT-Madras, IITKharagpur, Delhi University, Banaras Hindu University and University of Hyderabad, among others could be the new entrants to the list of “Institutions of Eminence.” The University Grants Commission (UGC) on Friday recommended five government institutions and seven private institutions for IoE status and letter of intent (LoI) respectively.

The recommendations now wait for the government’s approval before being notified. The UGC in its meeting considered the reports of the empowered expert committee (EEC) appointed by government under the chairmanship of N Gopalaswami recommending 15 public institutions and 15 private institutions for granting status of IoE.

Among the private institutions recommended for issue of LoI include Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Vellore Institute of Technology, Jamia Hamdard, Kalinga Institute of Technology, O P Jindal University and Shiv Nadar University. The commission also recommended Bharti (Satya Bharti Foundation) for issuance of LoI in the vacant slot under the greenfield category for yet to be established institutions.

“This is a tremendous encouragement for a young university and our philanthropic work. Our next mission is to be among the top 500 global institutions and top 50 young institutions,” said C Raj Kumar, vice chancellor, O P Jindal University.

Among those institutions which missed out from the recommended list are government run Savitribai Phule Pune University, Aligarh Muslim University, Tezpur University, Panjab University and Andhra University. Meanwhile, Jadavpur University and Anna University can be considered for issue of the IoE status only after the respective state governments have issued an official communication allocating their share of the funds (up to 50%).

According to a UGC official, “The mandate has been to prepare the institutions for securing international standard and to be among the top ranked institutions in global rankings. Therefore, the institutions not recommended are those which have not figured in any of the national or global rankings.”

Vellore Institute of Technology is among the private institutions recommended for issue of letter of intent (LoI)

Scooter girls are the new ‘delivery boys’

Number of women in India’s delivery business is up to 68k from 40k in 2018. The ripples are being felt far and wide in the 10L-strong workforce

Ishita Mishra & Anam Ajmal | TNN 03.08.2019

The scooter comes to a halt outside a restaurant in the narrow bylanes of Dehradun. As the rider moves towards the kitchen, heads turn. An unfazed Reena Gupta quickly picks up a parcel and starts the GPS on her phone. Minutes later, the mother of two is knocking at a stranger’s house, pizza in hand.

As new-age internet companies expand businesses, an increasing number of women are making their presence felt in the gig economy space. In the delivery sector alone, which has about 10 lakh employees, 67,900 are women — up from 40,000 in 2018 — according to latest estimates.

There’s been a surge in women applying to be delivery partners in big metros and smaller cities, says a spokesperson at Zomato. The company has 2 lakh delivery partners. Increased participation of women has led to the roll-out of delivery via bicycle, targeted at those who don’t know how to ride a bike.

Some women are leaving their low-paying “9 to 5” desk jobs as assistants and back-office employees to embrace this digitally mediated work. And driving this choice are factors like greater flexibility, more working-time autonomy and better pay parity than in traditional jobs.

Reena joined Zomato last September after her husband lost his job at a medical store. “It was an unusual choice but I decided to give it a shot,” the arts graduate told TOI.

What sealed the deal for her was the freedom to decide her working hours, set her own targets and higher pay — she earns up to Rs 6,000 every week, delivering up to 20 orders a day.

Firdaus Ansari from Chhattisgarh’s Bhilai quit her job as a doctor’s assistant last year and became a food delivery agent. No longer bound by a desk job, she has extra time at hand and is now focusing on dreams cast aside years ago — like pursuing a bachelors in sociology. She attends classes early morning and starts picking up orders after 1 pm.

Priyanka, a 22-year-old from Mumbai who has been with Swiggy for 10 months, chose to be a delivery partner for financial reasons. “My parents passed away when I was a teenager. I have three younger siblings to raise. This job has given me financial independence.” She also enjoys meeting new people and is now familiar with many areas of the city.

While digital forces may have opened new opportunities for women, it’s not always a trouble-free ride. Safety remains a concern and companies are starting to take note. Swiggy — which employs over 1.95 lakh delivery executives and has 700 women — has designated “safe zones” for women employees in over 20 cities.

“They work in shifts that end before 6 pm and operate in areas identified as safe zones,” a company spokesperson said.

“Our location is tracked by area managers. The key is to keep someone informed,” said Menka Pakhare, a 34-yearold who works with Zomato in Mumbai and was a housewife for 13 years before taking up the job.

Firdaus added that initially she was scared to take orders after dark, but her job has taught her how to deal with all kinds of situation.

But gender dynamics remain strong and convincing “society” that women can enter male-dominated professions is a challenge. Firdaus gives the example of another girl who had joined with her but quit shortly afterwards due to family pressure.

Some resolute women like 39-year-old Harshika Pandya — one of the 12 female Zomato delivery partners in Surat — manage to stand their ground. Harshika was working in the back office of a finance company and decided on Zomato in 2018.

“When I started out, my family said it was a man’s job. But I stuck to my decision,” said Harshika, who usually picks up her last order around 1.30am.

Ashwini, 34, Swiggy’s first female delivery partner in Vadodara who recently moved to Bengaluru for her daughter’s higher studies, said that each ride she undertakes delivers a message that no job belongs to any particular gender.

Observers back the thought. “When women opt for jobs where they are seen in public places, it increases their visibility, which leads to normalisation and acceptance of such work in society. It also gives women better career options and leads to an increase in their confidence levels and economic worth,” said Ranjana Kumari, director, Centre for Social Research.

India is indeed moving beyond gender, said Preethisha, the country’s first transgender food delivery person with Uber Eats who lives in Chennai. She has high hopes for the future. “Today, gender doesn’t stop people from pursuing opportunities. With more women and marginalised communities in the workforce, the future will be even better,” said the 32-year-old.

Harshika agreed. “Ye soch badalne ka safar hai (This is a journey to change mindsets),” she said.