BELAGAVI: A major corruption scandal has emerged at Rani Channamma University (RCU), Belagavi, with allegations of large-scale tender rigging and bribery in the procurement of marks cards and degree certificates.
An RTI activist from Bengaluru has lodged a detailed complaint with the Lokayukta, accusing senior university officials of colluding with private printing firms in what is alleged to be a multi-crore scam. The complaint, filed by RTI activist Dattatreya Kulkarni, names top officials, including Vice-Chancellor Prof. C.M. Thyagaraja, Registrar Santosh Kamagouda, former Registrar (Evaluation) Ravindranath N. Kadam, and Finance Officer M.A. Sapna. They are accused of conspiring with a private company to manipulate tender conditions and inflate costs.
According to the complaint, the original tender, estimated at Rs 5.18 crore, was deliberately escalated to Rs 7.18 crore before being finally awarded at Rs 6.44 crore. The activist alleges that nearly Rs 2 crore from this amount was siphoned off as bribes to the officials involved.
The scam reportedly extended beyond financial manipulation to the supply of substandard materials. The firms are accused of providing inferior Teslin paper, falsely claiming it was tear-resistant and durable. While other universities reportedly procured the same material at around Rs 35 per unit, RCU paid an exorbitant Rs 66 per unit.
Inspection and quality verification reports were allegedly tampered with to approve the inferior material. Serious legal violations have also been flagged: outsourcing examination-related work to private vendors contravenes a Karnataka High Court order, which restricts such outsourcing due to the risk of malpractice.
Moreover, the university allegedly ignored a Higher Education Department directive mandating digital marks cards and degree certificates via NAD/DigiLocker, opting for physical printing instead.
The tender process is also under scrutiny for violating the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurement (KTPP) Act. Instead of using the mandatory Karnataka Public Procurement Portal (KPPP), the tender was floated on the Government e-Marketplace (GeM), allegedly bypassing transparency norms and wider public scrutiny.
Kulkarni has submitted documentary evidence, including tender documents and allegedly manipulated inspection reports, to the Lokayukta. He has urged members of the university’s Syndicate and Academic Council to cooperate fully with investigators, warning that failure to do so could attract action under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
The Lokayukta is expected to initiate a comprehensive probe into the allegations. If proven, the case could have far-reaching legal and administrative consequences, severely damaging the credibility of the university and its administration.