It began with the submission of the letter of Dean of Faculty of Commerce B S Patel, whose resignation was accepted a month ago. Though Patel stated the reasons for his action were totally personal, he made it clear that it was the deanship that was getting him down, not the professor's duties, the head of the department's job or even the charge of the BBA course.

A fortnight later, it was the turn of the principal and the vice-principal of the Polytechnic college. Though they had stated in their letter that their move was triggered by their inability to handle the situation in the campus, their letters were not accepted by MSU Vice-Chancellor Anil Kane.

It was the unrelenting hooliganism on the campus that reportedly prompted the polytechnic heads to submit their letters.

Though there is less than a month left for his retirement, Officer on Special Duty (Examinations) L J Parekh has also put in his papers. But he said he was considering withdrawing them, adding, ``I will be retiring as a professor but it is still to be seen whether the VC considers my decision to quit as the OSD''.

The series of resignations climaxed with In-Charge Registrar Pratibha Desai putting in her papers, driving home exactly how unrewarding the prestigious job was.

Reliable sources in the administrative section of the university say it is the payscale offered to the registrar that further compounds the problem and dissuades worthy candidates from applying for the post.

Sources said Kane had had to personally request senior professor in the Department of Economics N M Pandya to agree to take up the offer. Interestingly, some time ago, it had been Pandya who had expressed interest in occupying the vacancy created by Pro-Vice-Chancellor Veena Mistry's retirement.

Incidentally, while the outgoing registrar also claimed that the reason for her resignation was personal, it is indisputable that her resignation was accepted even before an alternative was found.