THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala University's Centre for Latin American Studies has been caught in a row over an unrecovered amount to the tune of Rs 16.51 lakh arising out of an erroneous remittance made to a foreign journalist for online lectures conducted in 2023.
In June 2023, the Centres' director Girish Kumar had instructed the State Bank of India (SBI) Karyavattom branch via email to remit an amount equivalent to INR 20,000 in US dollars from the centre's account. The amount was to be paid as an honorarium to the Brazil-based journalist who delivered four online lectures.
Despite clear instructions, the bank erroneously made a remittance of 20,000 USD (approx Rs 16.51 lakh) to the journalist's account via the Bank of America. On being informed about the error, the journalist informed the Director that he had reversed the transaction. However, the amount has not yet been credited to the centre's account.
After Girish Kumar approached SBI, the bank admitted its mistake in an official communication but said it was unable to retrieve the excess money from the Bank of America despite repeated requests. After Girish Kumar informed the university of the matter in January 2024, the varsity Syndicate constituted a sub-committee to examine the issue.
Recently, the Syndicate recommended that the director be exempted from any disciplinary proceedings after examining the records. Terming the matter as "serious", Vice-Chancellor Dr Mohanan Kunnummal rejected the Syndicate sub-committee's recommendation. He said that those responsible for the loss should be identified and legal steps initiated to recover the amount.
Meanwhile, Save University Campaign Committee has petitioned the Governor to seek a Vigilance investigation into the episode. The whistleblowers' collective claimed that the transfer of money to a foreign national without obtaining the mandatory approvals from the university constituted a serious lapse. SUCC also alleged that the loss was kept undisclosed to the varsity for nearly three years.