K M Dayashankar
IMPACT OF HINDUDAYASHANKAR
KARIMNAGAR, JULY 18, 2024: The Telangana State Government has ordered an inquiry into the alleged misappropriation of Satavahana University funds by the former Vice Chancellor and his team by the Vigilance Commission and Enforcement Directorate, according to sources here on Thursday.
Responding to a newsitem “Activists demand Vigilance inquiry into misappropriation of Varsity funds by the former VC”, published in this website on July 11, 2024, the government has instructed the vigilance department to conduct an inquiry and submit a report. Accordingly, the orders were received by the regional vigilance and enforcement office in Rekurthi in Karimnagar town.
It may be recalled that several student organizations such as AISF, ABVP, NSUI, BMS, SC Reservation porata samithi, Satavahana University protection forum and others staged several protests and submitted petitions to the government demanding inquiry into the irregularities committed by the former VC. The student unions and others hailed the government decision to conduct Vigilance inquiry and punish the guilty.
The students unions and Satavahana University Protection and Development forum members and social activists have alleged lots of misappropriation of university funds and several irregularities were committed during the regime of former SU Vice Chancellor S Mallesham and his henchmen including Finance officer, Registrar, Assistant Registrar and Controller of Examinations.
They alleged that the former VC Mallesham had visited the University on the midnight of July 3, 2024 and stayed at Guest house and entered the administrative building and made several changes to the files and snatched away the university properties.
Alleging large-scale financial irregularities during the regime of former VC with his henchmen including finance officer M Ravinder, registrar M Varaprasad, assistant registrar P Prasad and Controller of Examinations SV Sriranga Prasad, they charged that the former VC had made several changes in the files following the audit report objections for the year 2022-23.
Demanding the government to study the CCTV footages of July 3, 2024 night wherein the former VC had visited the university and entered into the Administrative building premises with his henchmen, they said that the former VC had appointed a disqualified person as Finance officer and resorted to several irregularities of siphoning off university funds. Similarly, the former VC had appointed Vannala Ramesh, a former sociology department lecturer as his OSD violating norms during his regime and extended his services even after his retirement by appointing him as adjunct teacher. They demanded the government to order a vigilance inquiry and recover the siphoned off university funds.
They also alleged that the university Examination branch was also plagued with several irregularities and scams. Under the supervision of controller of examinations Sriranga Prasad, the answer papers were sent from the university to outside for rewriting in collusion with some colleges, they said and urged the government to examine the CCTV footages from July 1 to 8 for unraveling the truth. They also reminded that Mr Sriranga Prasad had attained dubious distinction for the leakages of question papers in the year 2021.
The activists have also alleged that the former VC in collusion with the controller of examination had allocated the scanning of answer sheets on nomination basis without inviting tenders during the year 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24 academic years and involved in scam of several crores of rupees.
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