BELAGAVI: The government is yet to initiate any action into the alleged misappropriation of funds at the Karnataka State Open University (KSOU) between 2009-10 and 2015-16, despite the governor’s office directing the state government in April 2022 to hand over the probe to the CBI for a detailed investigation.
The governor’s office, in a letter to the additional chief secretary of the higher education department, had stated, “The Governor desired to entrust the KSOU case pertaining to the misappropriation of funds to the CBI for a detailed probe.’’
In February 2020, KSOU Registrar Prof R Rajanna had written to the governor pointing to the misuse of Rs 250 crore collected allegedly from 205 collaborative institutions of the university from across the country. Fund misappropriation was found in the receipts of the admission, examination, study centre and marks card sections of the university, the Registrar’s letter stated.
During the board meeting of the apex body of KSOU in February 2022, it was unanimously decided to recommend the matter for investigation by a central agency, like the CBI, after going through the interim report of the chartered accountant and statutory audit reports from 2009-10 to 2015-16. The meeting suggested that the investigation may be conducted by a central agency as collaborative institutes are spread across India.
After the board’s decision, the registrar wrote to the governor on February 15, 2022 for the latter’s intervention. Realising the seriousness of the case, the governor’s office wrote to the additional chief secretary on April 7, 2022 and directed the state government to conduct a detailed investigation. But the government is yet to act even 10 months after the governor’s office letter.
Prof Vidyashankar, a former vice-chancellor of KSOU and current VC of Visvesvaraya Technological University, shared the official documents of KSOU and said he had exposed the misappropriation of funds at KSOU during his tenure as VC there.