BENGALURU: The Comptroller and Auditor General’s (CAG) report on Bangalore University has revealed some glaring anomalies in disbursing stipends to research scholars. The monthly stipend released for research scholars was three to four times more than the actual. In some cases, BU finance officers
released stipends to scholars for more than the stipulated period, even though scholars claimed to have received only the actual amount. In these cases, the finance department officials have collected excess amounts from the scholars in cash citing “erroneous transfers”.
The CAG report has recommended action against all officials and verifying the stipend amount received by the scholars. The report, tabled in the Assembly on Wednesday, stressed that there were many irregularities since 2016 in Bangalore University. Mentioning one such case, where a scholar was supposed to get Rs 8,000, the report notes that the finance officer prefixed the number four, both in words and numerals, to make it Rs 48,000. “The modifications were carried out by the official after obtaining the approval of the Assistant Finance Officer for the original claims,” the report states.
An individual who lodged a complaint with the police said the excess amount transferred was collected in cash by the official from the students stating that it was credited to their account by mistake instead of some other students’ accounts. The official was suspended, but it was revoked in 2018, which was irregular.
Though the inquiry officer submitted a report confirming the allegations, the University had not taken any action against the finance officer, who adopted this modus operandi in nine such cases, the report noted.
It also said BU had not effectively verified the full working period of the senior assistant in the finance section from 2005 to 2017 even though it was ordered for detailed inquiry for the whole period.
It also recommended that action may be taken against all those concerned to prevent recurrence of such instances. Additional checks such as attestation of modifications to claims by the claimants, obtaining acknowledgements from the students for having received the claimed amount, comparing the amount both in words and figures before passing the bill and cheques should be put in place, the CAG report suggested.
Audit objections