Sir,

I am writing this as an aggrieved senior citizen on an extremely difficult experience with Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU), Belagavi, on a routine application process.

My daughter, currently residing in the US and an old student of a VTU-affiliated College, had applied for official grade sheet transcripts from VTU to pursue her Master’s studies (a common admission requirement).

Since there has been no update from weeks, well beyond their slated timelines, she sought my help in reaching out to them. My efforts to reach out to them on all possible channels have been extremely frustrating and without success.

Despite having 200-plus Colleges affiliated to it, the support system offered is shockingly poor to say the least. None of the support numbers mentioned on their website are ever answered, with some of them being invalid!

Not even one of the many mails sent to them have been even acknowledged. Despite my 65-plus age and in these pandemic times, I am even willing to travel all the way to Belagavi to collect these transcripts. However, there is no one to communicate if this option is available given the current pandemic situation.

How can such a prominent University have such shockingly poor systems, despite the hefty fee collected for such documents? Why can’t a basic application tracking system be made available for benefit of students, which even the most basic websites have today?

Given the importance of submitting these documents on time, the incompetence of VTU is not only inconveniencing the students (and parents alike in my case), but also jeopardising their careers. Will the authorities concerned please wake up?

– Rajendra Prasad, Retired State Government Manager, Mysuru, 25.11.2021

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