Maha Govt. Asks Colleges to Set Up Grievance Redressal Cells for Students
Maharashtra Govt. has notified all the universities and colleges of the state to set up Grievance Redressal Cells for students. The GRC's will help students to raise their concerns and address challenges which will ultimately help in increasing transparency of the whole system.
Maharashtra Higher and Technical Education Department has given an order to set up Grievance Redressal Cells (GRCs) for the purpose of solving the issues and complaints that have been raised by the students. Apart from GRCs, there will be a Lokpal in each university to decide on the appeals and complaints against Institutional and University Grievance Redressal Cells.
According to the Minister for Higher and Technical Education, Vinod Tawde, the students are at a loss with a non-existent Grievance Redressal Cell at the college and University level. The new addition is supposed to help the students to express their concerns, especially with mal-practices in admission procedures like the rejection of admission without proper reason, irregularities in admission processes, etc. In total, there are 15 types of various grievances that will be addressed by these mechanisms.
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The Grievance Redressal Cells (GRCs) will only be set up for students who wish to address some issues and complaints and ensuring that those complaints are addressed and resolved.
However, those issues that cannot be solved at the college level, can be transferred to the Grievance Redressal Cells at the institutional level and the University-level, thereafter. It will be the duty of the University to assign a Lokpal which will be responsible for hearing the appeals in opposition to the working of the Institute or the University. If in case the student is not content with the decision of the GRCs at all levels, then the student can approach the Lokpal for consideration on the issue.
The Lokpal would consist of a person who’s level is at par with a retired district judge, principal, registrar, vice-chancellor, or a professor. He also mentioned that the colleges have been given a deadline of setting up the Grievance Redressal Cells along with the Lokpal, which is before the next academic year begins, i.e. two-three months.