In an embarrassment for the ruling Congress six months ahead of the election, the party’s student union has alleged that the Karnataka Higher Education Minister is involved in a “marks cards scam”.
Minister Basavaraj Rayaraddi has been accused of irregularities in the purchase of marks cards for universities in the state.
National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) State president HS Manjunatha has also submitted a memorandum to AICC general secretary in-charge of Karnataka KC Venugopal in this regard, reported The Times of India.
"A marks card which used to cost between Re 1 and Rs 5 rose to Rs 30 and Rs 90," Manjunatha said in his complaint.
The minister, however, has denied the charge and said that the allegation is the handiwork of paper supply contractors who lost out on business. He added that he is also open for a probe.
“Based on the decisions of the Syndicate meeting, vice-chancellors and registrars place orders for purchase of marks cards. Universities are autonomous in purchasing them and I don’t interfere in such matters,” The Hindu quoted the minister as saying.
Instead, Rayaraddi alleged that Manjunatha’s claim was an act of revenge.
"Manjunatha had met me with a request to pass over 100 VTU students who had failed. I had refused to do so. How can I do this? He tried various tactics to put pressure on me, but I still refused. So, he decided to level allegations against me," TOI quoted Rayaraddi as saying.
He added that the ministry had only suggested procurement of good quality marks cards from the Mysore Sales International Ltd, a Karnataka government body. He added that procuring from MSIL had saved the universities a lot of money.
Defending his position, the minister also carried out a public demonstration on Thursday by tearing a sample Bangalore University card.
"This is the quality of BU marks card; it can tear, the printed words will be lost after a few years. The MSIL marks sheets are water resistant and cannot be faked. It also has other security features," Bangalore Mirror quoted Rayaraddi as saying.