Mangalore University admits to misuse of Rs 7 crore RUSA funds

Bengaluru: The Mangalore University has admitted to the misuse of funds released under the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA-1) by the Central government for construction of boys and girls hostels.

In a reply to the Karnataka State Higher Education Council (KSHEC), the university authorities said that the utilisation certificate submitted to the government was false.

As per the institutional development plan of the university, Rs 7 crore was released for the construction of the boys and girls hostels. But, in reality no construction activities were taking place which was revealed during the visit of the expert committee, constituted by the KSHEC for inspection of the utilisation of the funds. The fund was provided between 2013 and 2017 under RUSA-1. The University, in total, had received Rs 20 crore for the
project.

During the visit, the expert committee was shocked to see no hostel buildings constructed on the campus.

Even when the committee demanded the authorities to produce documents, they tried to mislead the committee by saying the funds were diverted for construction of an international hostel. Interestingly, in the utilisation certificate submitted to the Higher Education Department, the university had claimed that it had constructed two hostels, one for boys and one for girls.

The matter was placed before the State Project Director (SPD) meeting, headed by the principal secretary of the Higher Education department, and following the decision, a show cause notice was issued to the university authorities. The Higher Education Council recommended recovery of the funds misused by the university and also to impose
penalties.

As explained by the officials of the department, the funds released under the RUSA should be utilised only to the purpose for which it is allocated. In RUSA funds, 60% share is from the Centre and 40% from the state. RUSA 1 was between 2013 and 2017.

The Higher Education institutions and universities were asked to submit the utilisation certificate soon after the completion of the projects for which the funds were allocated. Of the Rs 7 crore released for Mangalore University, Rs 3.5 crore was for construction of boys hostel and Rs 3.5 crore for girls hostel.