State constitutes committee to investigate irregularities in NAAC assessment; orders to submit

Lokmat News Network

Aurangabad, Dec 3:

The state government has constituted a seven-member committee to investigate into the irregularities alleged to have taken place in the NAAC assessment held during the then Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University vice-chancellor, Dr B A Chopade. The committee is also ordered to table the inquiry report to the government in one month.

The committee headed by the deputy secretary (Higher and Technical Education) Satish Tidke and the members are pro-vice-chancellor (Mumbai university) Dr Ravindra Kulkarni, director (Higher and Technical Education) Dr Dhanraj Mane, assistant commissioner (Investigation Branch) at the divisional commissionerate Vaishali Rasal, finance and accounts officer (BAMU) Rajendra Madke, executive engineer (Mumbai university) and joint director (Higher Education) Dr Digambar Gaikwad.

Dr Mane said, " The state government has ordered to complete the inquiry and submit the report in 30 days. The head of the inquiry committee will decide on when to start the inquiry by visiting Aurangabad. We have not yet received any communication in this regard."

It is alleged that irregularities worth crores of rupees had taken place under the pretext of NAAC assessment in BAMU during the year 2017-18. The administration made the purchase of required goods and articles beyond the capacity or demand, repairing and maintenance works of roads and other things were undertaken in different departments on a large scale. Many a time, the agencies submitted the bills of more than the sanctioned amounts in the office for reimbursement.

The Senate meeting held in last March witnessed an uproar like previous meetings. The members demanded a thorough inquiry into the irregularities. Many legislators had also taken up the matter. The legislators raised the issue of irregularity in BAMU during NAAC assessment as a star question during the second budget session (in 2020) in the legislative council.

In reply to the question, on March 13, the Higher and Technical Education minister Uday Samant assured the legislators of forming a committee. Accordingly, the inquiry committee is formed to investigate into the alleged irregularities.