The seminar condemned anti-student/staff policies like late timings, uniforms etc of the Laxmi Education Society (MVLU/Chinai college management). The seminar also screened a documentary film titled Invocations.

In his inaugural address, Prof Manjrekar said that education has become commercialised ever since the 1950s, especially after the then state chief minister Vasantdada Patil started `capitation fee colleges'.

He also felt that education should have a progressive fee structure, where fees can be decided on economic criteria, so that poor students can be exemptedfrom paying fees.

The president of Bombay University and College Teachers Union (BUCTU), Prof C R Sadasivan, said that the educational policy was decided by the New Economic Policy (NEP), which is harmful to all service sectors, including education. He also spoke about the `Internal assessment system' which was introduced at the University of Mumbai two years, and which has `resulted in anarchy'.

He said that while `chaos prevails in the correction of papers, project work has become mechanical'. Prof Sadasivan called for both students' as well as teachers' organisations to struggle against such policies of the government, especially in view of the coming elections.