BU Pays Price for Projects Which Had No UGC Nod

BENGALURU: Bangalore University has lost out on substantial funds from the University Grants Commission (UGC) as it had failed to get the commission’s approval in advance for some development work on Jnana Bharathi campus.

Under the 10th Five-Year Plan, BU constructed a building for the Environmental Science Department at the campus by spending Rs 52 lakh, but did not inform UGC. After the completion of works, the university sent a utilisation report to UGC, seeking release of funds.

On Monday, BU’s registrar (administration) received a communication from UGC saying it would not release funds for works that have been completed. “UGC has not approved the specific proposal sent by the university for Rs 52 lakh. So, UGC is only releasing Rs 10 lakh against the amount spent by you,” the letter stated.

Confirming receipt of the letter, Registrar K K Seethamma told Express that the university would use its internal resources to settle the accounts. “During the 10th plan period, the authorities somehow did not send proposals to UGC and that created problems,” she said.

Let Off the Hook

However, the commission has decided to exempt the university from coughing up Rs 7 crore for other unapproved works. BU had been asked to pay Rs 7 crore for using UGC funds to construct several buildings on the Jnana Bharathi campus, Central College and the Kolar PG centre, none of which were mentioned in the proposal submitted under the 10th plan.

A few weeks ago, Vice-Chancellor B Thimme Gowda approached UGC and urged it to accept the university’s utilisation certificate. “We received a communication from UGC just a day ago saying our request has been accepted. So we don’t need to pay back (the amount),” Seethamma said.

UGC has asked the university to send all the project completion documents with the consolidated accounts. “We will soon send the utilisation details,” she said.