Of the 150-odd colleges that were supposed to send a blacklist of defaulting students to the University of Mumbai, just 57 have responded. That, say authorities, is nothing but a glaring pointer to the fact that most students are not interested in attending classes. College authorities cite a slew of excuses, ranging from problems in maintaining attendance records and a possible cut in staff strength - necessitated by lesser number of students -- for not implementing the rule. Thus, several colleges have unofficially worked out a cut-off attendance rate hovering around 50 per cent for debarring students, stating that if the 75 per cent rule were to be implemented, classrooms woudl get empty.

According to a court order passed last June and circulars issued in this regard, onlythose students who have 75 per cent attendance should be allowed to take the final examinations. But as this is the first academic year when the rule is being implemented, principals have been exercising a dcegree of leniency.

At Lala Lajpat Rai College, Haji Ali, for instance, 40 students were debarred in all the three years together due to poor attendance. Earlier, the college had debarred 150 students at the end of the first term itself.

``Students are not serious about the 75 per cent rule,'' says Principal M G Shirahatti of Lala's. ``But if you throw out too many students, the staffing pattern will be affected in the next year. Posts of teaching and non-teaching staff will have to be reduced, commensurate with the number of students.'' To prevent a reduction in workload, several principals prefer to work out a `compromise' by allowing students to continue, he adds.

Besides, the university has left the implementation of the rule to colleges, asking only for a list of defaulters. Principals allegethat the Board of College and University Development (BCUD), which is supposed to handle the issue, has done nothing so far. ``The BCUD could have set up a committee to inspect colleges instead of leaving it to principals,'' Shirahatti says.

Also, there are problems maintaining attendance records, with over 120 students in each class, says Shirahatti. ``There is no personalised attention and calling attendance is problematic. There is always a dispute over that,'' he adds.

Ketan Shah, trustee of the Vile Parle Kelavani Mandal, which runs Mithibai and NM Colleges, concurs. ``Keeping attendance records is a big problem. At Mithibai, we have 10,000 students... How can we keep track during every lecture?''

At Bhavan's College in Andheri, 30 students were debarred, but only for non-submission of project work and none for poor attendance. Says Principal D B Kadam, ``If we implement the attendance circular strictly, more than half the students will go, and teachers will become surplus.''

Principal PUnnikrishnan of the Vivek College of Commerce, Goregaon, revealed that the college follows a cut-off rate of 40 per cent. ``Most students would rather go to coaching classes, and the problem is most acute in the commerce faculty,'' he adds. Sixty students were debarred in his college in all the three years together.

At the Mulund College of Commerce, Principal L S Bhole had another problem: of the 10 students who were debarred in all the three years, two students went to court and got an interim order in their favour. ``Consequently, I had to allow all the students to appear for the exam,'' Bhole says.

The university, on the other hand, is busy sending reminders to colleges who have not submitted their respective list of defaulters. Says Pro Vice-Chancellor Dr Naresh Chandra, ``Reminders have already been sent... We are looking into the matter.''