RU Syndicate Okays Probe Report
2 ex-VCs, 2 pro-VCs, officials gave way to graft in 2001-08
Rajshahi University (RU) syndicate on Monday night endorsed an investigation report that found corruption and irregularities in recruitment, implementation of educational programmes and projects of planning, development and engineering departments involving about Tk 23.22 crore during the period from 2001 and 2008.
The probe conducted by a four-member team headed by Prof Dr Md Entajul Haque, director of the Institute of Education and Research, held two former vice chancellors Prof Faisul Islam Faruki and Prof Dr M Altaf Hossain and two former pro-vice chancellors Prof Shahadat Hossain Mondol and Dr Mamnunul Keramat responsible for the corruption.
The responsible persons also include RU planning and development department director M Lutfar Rahman, chief engineer Abdur Rahim, Legal Cell assistant registrar M Tajul Islam Khan and the then project director of PDG-in IT Khwaza Zakaria Ahmed Chisti.
The probe report, which was submitted to the RU syndicate on Sunday, was accepted unanimously at the end of its meeting at around 10:30pm on Monday, RU vice chancellor Prof M Abdus Sobhan, also ex-officio chairman of the syndicate, told The Daily Star on Monday.
“We will send the report to the education ministry for necessary action.…. the university authority will also take some actions within its jurisdiction. The syndicate formed the investigation team in May 2009 following directives of the ministry. The team took explanations from the former vice chancellors, pro-vice chancellors and others. The probe report said that the statements of the responsible people were unacceptable,” said the vice chancellor.
The Daily Star correspondent obtained a copy of the 28-page report along with over 100-page documents and pieces of relevant evidence.
The report suggested punitive actions against persons responsible for the dishonest acts.
Recruitment
The probe found that 553 employees were recruited en masse in 2003-04 without any demand notes of concerned departments and without necessary approval by the University Grants Commission (UGC) and Ministry of Education. The RU authority forced the Finance Department to spend Tk 7,03,75,435 for salaries of 553 employees until March 2009.
The probe report says former RU officials amassed huge money while recruiting a total 1426 people against 602 newly created posts between 2004 and 2007. It suggested that personal wealth of those who were in the recruitment committees then be scrutinised. Feroza Khatun, an employee provided statement before the probe committee with evidence that the former pro-VC Shahadat Hossain Mondol took Tk 8 lakh from her for recruiting persons selected by her. Shahadat, however, denied the allegation before the probe team.
Planning and Development
The report mentioned that the special development project worth Tk 861.43 lakh of 2005 for constructing Shaheed Habibur Rahman Hall, a 50-seat dormitory for research and international students and air-conditioning of the central library that could not be completed within its scheduled time in 2007.
The work for the 50-seat dormitory did not even start, but the project was shown completed in official records in June 2007, and there was no money left in the bank account for the project. Most of the works under the project were shown completed in official documents before completion in reality and the budget for the project was illegally transferred to a fund called 'internal budget'.
A deposit of Tk 5 crore was found in the internal budget during the probe and concerned authorities could not provide any account of the bank interests of the money, says the report.
Books and Journals
The RU authority allocated a total of Tk 2.40 crore for buying books and journals between 2000-2001 and 2003-2004 fiscal years, and Tk 1.52 crore of the fund was left unused. Witnessing funds remaining unused, the authorities stopped allocating funds for buying books from 2004-2005. The funds remained unused due to lack of efficiency of the authorities concerned, the probe report said. The probe also found that bank interest of this fund was misused.
Engineering Department
The university sustained loss of Tk 4,46,443 for the construction of TSCC Bhaban as faulty design and low quality work led to collapse of the building soon after its completion.
The probe found the engineering department unfairly paid off an additional Tk 2,23,23,415 bills to contractors of some 17 construction works between 2001-2002 and 2006-07 on different pleas.
PGD-in IT
About Tk 3.63 crore fund of the Postgraduate Diploma in Information Technology project was misused and misappropriated between 2002 and 2005. The university authorities released the project director, Khwaza Jakaria Ahmed Chisti, for joining the Open University without getting settled the accounts of expenditures of the project.
Legal Cell
The university's legal cell spent around Tk 14 lakh for paying off attorneys in the legal suits filed against the university authorities over the illegal recruitment of employees that appeared to the team as unnatural. Some of the payments were made in cash although it is to be paid through bank cheques as per tradition.
Syndicate members Prof Chowdhury Zulfikar Matin and advocate Zillur Rahman, and Prof Dr M Mahbubur Rahman, director of Institute of Bangladesh Studies, are three other members of the investigation team.
Versions of two former VCs
When contacted, former VC Prof Dr M Altaf Hossain told this correspondent that the allegations of irregularities against him are not true. “Recruitments, arrangement of their salaries and implementations of projects were done in accordance with the approval of the syndicate and concerned committees as per law,” he said. Another former VC Prof Faisul Islam Faruki declined to comment on the matter and said, “I have nothing to say over the report... I explained everything in my statement given to the probe committee”.
When contacted, former VC Prof Dr M Altaf Hossain told this correspondent that the allegations of irregularities against him are not true. “Recruitments, arrangement of their salaries and implementations of projects were done in accordance with the approval of the syndicate and concerned committees as per law,” he said. Another former VC Prof Faisul Islam Faruki declined to comment on the matter and said, “I have nothing to say over the report... I explained everything in my statement given to the probe committee”.
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