The world has become tech-savvy but the students of the State universities seem to be isolated from the concept of lodging their grievances online. The matter was revealed by Nodal Officers appointed at various universities of the State for managing Centralised Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS).
According to these officers, most of the complaints are related to issuance of degree certificates which is usually done through face-to-face communication. CPGRAMS is considered to be a medium of bringing transparency in a system like the educational institution.
“We often try to explain the benefits of CPGRAMS to our students. They just have to file a complaint at the website of CPGRAMS. The redressal is also done online. Though it has been around one and half years of the launch but hardly any student is aware of the medium,” Ranchi University CPGRAMS Nodal Officer Dr Ashok Kumar Choudhary who is also the Director of Academic Staff College said.
Choudhary added that the medium is available for employees as well. “The response of employees is comparatively better in other universities. Awareness Campaigns for student is the need of the hour,” he said.
Similarly, Vinoba Bhave University (VBU) Public Information Officer Dr VK Sinha appointed as Nodal Officer for the same purpose on August said, “Teachers are more attentive towards CPGRAMS. Most of them have mentioned their pending needs of salary. We constantly tell them that it is more beneficial for the students to know about the concept. Unfortunately, the latter is showing a poor turn out. We are helpless.”
Meanwhile, Sido Kanhu Murmu University vice-chancellor Professor Qamar Ahsan denoted the lack of awareness among students a “sad part”. “Most of our students hail from economically weak sections. They are comfortable on submitting a complaint through hard copies. They cannot access internet due to unavailability of basic requirements,” he mentioned.
Notably, Human Resources Development department is coordinating CPGRAMS. Various university sources informed on the few mails received at one of the Vice Chancellors e-mail id. “Two or three mails are often seen at our VC’s e-mail. Else, we have never heard students filing complaints on any other online mode,” said State university sources.
Notably, University Grants Commission (UGC) had taken a same effort like CPGRAMS recently. The Commission in July had announced to launch an online portal for addressing the grievance of students. All the Universities were directed to appoint a Nodal Officer at their university level who would act as liaison between colleges and body. Reports mention most of the universities across the nation have not responded over the instruction. “I am not aware on any such instruction of UGC,” confirmed an officer of HRD department.