The city’s student community has loudly opposed the proposed decision of the Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) to merge the famous Ranade Institute of Communication and Journalism with Pune varsity’s Department of Media and Communication studies.
The Ranade Institute, established in 1964 and deemed as an iconic fixture in the city’s socio-cultural fabric, has served as a finishing school for several of State’s journalists and communication specialists. The British-era building where the Institute functions from dates back from 1910.
Distinctive identity
While the Journalism department became a full-fledged one under the Pune University in 1976, its location away from the varsity’s premises — in the heart of Pune city on Fergusson College Road — and its government-funded status ensured that it retained a distinctive identity besides being an institution where students from the rural hinterland could make a mark in journalism and media owing to its fee structure.
The students claim that the decision would alter the social and fee structure making it harder for students from the social margins to make a mark in the field of communication and mass media.
“The merger will ensure that the number of students for the journalism course automatically goes down as the varsity’s department would be a non-grant one. Students cutting across economic and social barriers from all over the country come to the Ranade Institute. This magnificent building has a distinctive identity of his own,” said student leader Kuldeep Ambekar, who is also president of the social outfit Student Helping Hand.
Mr. Ambekar and other student leaders point to the secrecy in which the university authorities have taken the decision. They point to the fact that there was no official circular about the decision on the SPPU’s website and that the decision was all the more puzzling as there had been no demand from the students themselves to merge the two departments.
Uutilitarian purpose
The protesting voices also stress on a utilitarian purpose served by the central location of the Ranade.
“At Ranade, students from various colleges work part-time to pursue diplomas and degrees. It is located in the heart of Pune. It is easy and convenient for students to come to Ranade. Students will have to face many difficulties in commuting if it shifts to the varsity premises,” Mr. Ambekar said.
Kiran Sali of the Yuvasena — Shiv Sena’s youth wing — said the institute was frequented by a large number of students from the rural areas of Pune, Nashik, Ahmednagar and other parts of Marathwada.
“Students coming to study here from the rural parts after clearing the entrance exams experience the feeling of being able to do something different with their lives. For them, the institute is beloved alma mater. Absorbing it within the varsity’s media and communication studies department will completely transform the direction of the journalism course,” says Mr. Ambekar.
Several former and present students on Monday met Vice-Chancellor Nitin Karmalkar to oppose the decision.
However, the SPPU authorities claim that the move would not harm the interests of any student.
“The merger has been proposed to sharing their resources. It will not be detrimental to the interests of students. Moreover, the decision is only under consideration at the moment. It will not be effected in the current financial year,” said a senior varsity official.
A number of student outfits, however, sense something darker in the varsity proposal.
‘Plan to sell-off prime land’
Mr. Ambekar alleged that varsity authorities eventually planned to sell-off the prime land (valued at several hundreds of crores of rupees) where the Ranade Institute is situated to a builder for development into a mall or shopping complex.
“The independent existence of the Ranade Institute should not be jeopardised. Students are especially suspicious of the motives of the SPPU varsities given their history of controversial decisions in the recent past,” said Kamalakar Shete of the ‘Yuvak Kranti Dal’, a city-based student outfit.
Mr. Shete said the surreptitious manner of the varsity’s proposed decision without putting out a proper circular had done nothing to assuage the students’ fears.
