JOIN USDU sits on U'khand relief
Delhi University Vice Chancellor’s Relief Fund for Uttarakhand disaster reached the Prime Minister’s Office a year late, defying the purpose it was meant for. The university had raised Rs 88 lakh last year.
The donation was sent to the PM’s National Relief Fund on July 22, 2014 in the name of ‘Employees of University of Delhi (Teaching and non-teaching)’, reveals a Right to Information query.
In the aftermath of flash floods in Uttarakhand, DU had asked all employees to donate a day’s salary, while making an exception only for those who submitted a ‘rejection form’.
And there was also a ‘consent form’ for those who wanted to set aside more money.
“More and more causalities have been reported from the affected area with each passing day,” the university in its June 25, 2013 letter said, while adding that in case none of the two forms were received by June 10, 2013, a day’s salary shall be automatically deducted and deposited in VC’s Relief Fund.
Earlier, the Delhi University Teachers’ Association in its ‘white paper’, alleged that administrative and financial irregularities had listed non-disclosure of queries related to funds collected for Uttarakhand relief work as one of the grey areas.
Employees who donated towards the Relief Fund couldn’t claim tax exemption in the previous financial year as no personal receipt was issued by the university, said the petitioner Hemchand Jain, who is a teacher at Deen Dayal Upadhyaya College.
Suspicion brewed when DU in a notification issued on July 23, 2014 said the money has been deposited in the PM’s Relief Fund, while giving out details required for claiming income tax exemption.
The notification was, however, silent on when the fund was transferred.
DUTA in its dossier had said, “When teachers made enquiries as late as the second week of July 2014, regarding details and PAN number of the donee in order to file income tax returns for the assessment year 2014-15, it was not provided.”
‘White paper’
Pointing out that rehabilitation work in Uttarakhand is an ongoing process, the DU media coordinator Malay Neerav, said, “University will submit a detailed reply on DUTA’s white paper.”
Taking cognisance of DUTA’s dossier questioning the varsity functioning, the Human Resource Development Ministry last week had directed DU to submit a point-by-point explanation on each issue raised in it.