Though the State government has banned the use of flex boards, Mangalore University used it extensively during an Open House on its Mangalagangotri campus on Friday.
The two-day programme was inaugurated on Friday to showcase the strength of university to those seeking admission for its postgraduate courses. The university has 26 postgraduate departments offering 36 courses. Almost all departments of higher learning used flex boards ignoring the government order.
Incidentally A.B. Ibrahim, Deputy Commissioner and District Magistrate, who is authorised to get them removed, inaugurated the programme. Even a flex welcoming the guests had been displayed on the stage in the hall where the inaugural session was held.
Some visitors to the campus wondered how the university, which has announced of opening a course in Environmental Science on the campus from the current academic year, could ignore a government order
A profile of the university released at the inaugural session read: “…Today the university is a major centre for the study of ecology and environment…” It said that it has an endowment chair on Ecology and Environment.
A visitor said that a premier institute of higher learning should have emerged as a model by using environment friendly methods to showcase its strength. Funds spent on flex boards could have been used for issuing written materials for upgrading knowledge or spread awareness on ecology and environment. “In reality, the university is different from what has been mentioned in its profile,” a visitor said.
A senior official of the university told The Hindu that the matter had been discussed in a meeting over organising Open House. But no specific decision was taken not to display them. There were not many flex boards on the campus on Thursday evening. “But I also wondered how many flex boards had been displayed on Friday morning,” the official said.
