Anomaly in VTU appointments

A preliminary inquiry by the State government into the recruitment of 168 teachers for Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) has found irregularities, needing further investigation.

The  preliminary inquiry was conducted in January 2014 by G V Krishna Rau, who was then additional chief secretary. 

The government has so far not acted on the report. Higher Education Minister R V Deshpande and Chief Secretary Koushik Mukherjee said they were not aware of the inquiry.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had ordered the probe, according to official sources. Correspondence between Rau, DP&AR Principal Secretary E V Ramana Reddy and Principal Secretary for Higher Education Rajneesh Goel suggests that there has been a series of violations by VTU in providing quota for the Hyderabad-Karnataka cadre, overruling the government order to stop recruitment when the scam first surfaced in December 2013.

The letters were accessed via RTI by Janata Dal(Secular) MLC Marithibbe Gowda.

Rau in his report forwarded to Ramana Reddy dated July 31, 2014, said  the preliminary inquiry into complaints of scam at VTU by Marithibbe Gowda and another Janata Dal(Secular) MLC Puttanna yielded sufficient evidence for a further detailed investigation into the entire scam. 

“It is a fit case for an investigation, to fix the responsibility and take action on the persons concerned,” said Rau in his report.

The inquiry report states that  VTU violated its own statutes applicable to recruitment of faculty and also did not adhere to the government directives given on November 6, 2013, to create local cadres before commencing appointments.