By MM Special Correspondent,
Aligarh: At a time when students are facing crunch of equipments and other material in various labs of the Aligarh Muslim University, the administration has lavishly spent a sum of Rs 6 crore on building a new swimming pool. The administration’s misplaced priority has sparked a new row in the university as teachers and students have been questioning the wisdom of university authorities for indulging in such splurge. They said the university and its off- campus centers have been facing acute financial crises while the authorities have spent money freely on an unimportant extra-curricular activity.
It is said the newly built swimming pool at AMU costed the university exchequer to the tune of Rs 60 million. On October 17, addressing the 199th Birth Anniversary Celebration of Aligarh Muslim University Founder, the newly elected AMUSU president underlined the scarcity of new equipments in several departmental labs.
Vice Chancellor of AMU Lt Gen Zameeruddin Shah took the first plunge into the pool on October 16 on its opening, the students and staffs were surprised when they learnt that ‘pool’ costed INR 60 million.
I doubt, they did spend six crore on the construction of this swimming pool, it’s not the matter of more than 2 crore, there is something fishy in the deal, said a Shabih Mahmood , an AMU alumnus who has come here from Delhi to attend S.S .Day.
I fail to understand where they have spent 6 crore in building this swimming pool? A swimming pool is just like the construction of a basement and there is some construction work only one side , said a student of ZHCET while expressing his anger about the corruption involved in building the swimming pool.
‘We need such facility to add points in NAAC’s accreditation’ said a teaching staff when contacted to comment on new swimming pool . But he got clueless when argued that JNU and BHU lack such lavish facility but they always get ‘A’ category in NAAC rating.
Our labs are far behind even from Hyderabad University in terms of having new equipments, said Assist professor Shabbir Ahmad who is also the lab in charge for research scholars in physics department.
The swimming pool was built with the money donated by Yusuf Ali, an Indian businessman based in UAE.
‘The donors give money to AMU but it’s the AMU administration which should know the priority and spend money accordingly. The off center campuses are facing closure due to lack of money and the AMU administration is spending money in building swimming pool, said a teaching staff on the condition of anonymity.
The proximity between AMU’s Vice Chancellor Lt Gen Zameer Uddin Shah and Mr. Salman Jafri, Managing Director of New Millennium Constructions, New Delhi is talk of the town .The New Millennium Ltd. is the project management consultant of two university projects. The AMU VC has publically acknowledged the donation of INR 1.50 crore by Salman Jafri to his NGO, Sir Syed Education Foundation for the construction of Sir Syed National School at Jaula Muzaffarnagar .
Of late President Pranab Mukherjee has given nod to the Human Resource Development Ministry’s proposal to launch an inquiry into allegations of financial and administrative impropriety against Aligarh Muslim University vice-chancellor Zameeruddin Shah which includes illegal transfer of funds collected from students from the university account to the account of a private trust (Sir Syed Educational Foundation) headed by Vice Chancellor Zameeruddin Shah .