State Universities and their Vice Chancellors have now come under the scanner of the government for corruption and misappropriation of funds.
Karnataka Higher Education Minister, Basavaraj Rayareddy, on Friday, said that 17 state universities are being investigated for corruption.
He also said that he had received reports from at least six of the 17 universities being probed.
Rayareddy also said that the Vice-Chancellors of six universities have indulged in alleged acts of corruption and misuse of office. They are being probed for recruitment scams, misappropriation of funds for infrastructure projects. He said that these Vice-Chancellors were found guilty by Lokayuktas.
The issue was raised in the Vidhana Parishad by MLCs M Narayanaswamy from Congress and Mahantesh Kavatgimath from BJP.
“In Kuvempu University, an infrastructure project worth Rs 4.6 crore was billed at Rs 11 crore, and the funds were released. This is gross misappropriation of funds,” the Minister said.
Rayareddy said that these instances have increased in the last six years.
“We have formed three-member committees for each district where these colleges are located, which are probing the allegations of misappropriation of funds and corruption by the universities. The committees comprise the Superintendent Engineer (PWD), Additional Deputy Commissioner and the finance officer of the Zilla Panchayat,” the minister added.
Reports from all the colleges are expected to be submitted to the ministry by the end of March.
Upon receiving the reports, Rayareddy said that the ministry will look into loopholes exploited by the universities to dupe the government and at possibly bringing in a universities regulation act.