31 October,2012 07:46 AM IST | | Niranjan Medhekar
Days after MID DAY published a three-part series on how students' accidental insurance scheme run by the University of Pune (UoP) had failed miserably, Vice-Chancellor of the university Dr W N Gade has given assurance that he would look into the matter and resolve the confusion at the earliest.u00a0He has not now stepped in and the students' welfare department is expected to submit a detailed report regarding the scheme for his scrutiny.
Tackling the issue: Vice-Chancellor of the University ofu00a0Pune, Dr W N Gade has asked the students' welfare department to submit a detailed report on the scheme. Pic/Krunal Gosavi
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"I went through the news reports published last week and checked the number of pending cases recorded in the last academic year, which is quite high. I will ask the concerned department of the UoP to submit a detailed report to me on the scheme shortly," Gade said yesterday.
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The series revealed the fact that in the last academic year, out of a total 53 accidental deaths and injuries due to accidents involving students, 30 cases have not yet been settled by the insurance company.
Failing expectations
The main reason behind this was that the students' welfare department of the UoP, the department tasked with managing the scheme since its inception in the 90s, was not taking responsibility to settle pending insurance claims.
Currently, the college directly submits the required documents pertaining to claims to the insurance company. But in many cases, the company has been known to reject such claims on various grounds.
"If the insurance company is not cooperating with the colleges, then it is the duty of the students' welfare department to play a vital role to speed up the process and ensure the claims are settled at the earliest. I will interact with the director of the department and decide a future course of action," Gadesaid.
Former director of the students welfare department Dr Sambhaji Pathare, who was in charge of the scheme till the 2010-11 academic year, said, "While renewing the contract of the scheme, I have taken assurance from the insurance company that every claim will be settled within seven days. The department should also play a proactive role," Pathare said.
