HRD sets up panel to screen graft plaints

Faced with regular instances of allegation of corruption and other misdemeanors against the heads of central educational institutions like IITs, IIMs, NITs and central universities, the HRD ministry has set up a committee for initial scrutiny of the complaints against them and other senior functionaries.

The ministry has argued that whenever the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) gets a complaint it directs the ministry to conduct an investigation and give the report usually within 12 weeks. The ministry said its vigilance wing also receive complaints from other sources as well against officials, including certain vice-chancellors of the universities and chairmen of the NITs/IIMs/IITs. It said, "In the absence of any special mechanism in place to look into the allegations investigation is assigned to ministry officials. Some of the heads of the institutions, including vice-chancellors against whom such complaints are lodged and investigation is ordered by the CVC, are renowned academics and a fact finding enquiry against them by an officer of the ministry who are not of sufficient higher level often embarrasses not only the person investigated against but also the officer conducting such an inquiry."

The ministry said it has also been found that many complaints are found to emanate not on merits of the allegations but out of inter-personal academic rivalries.The new committee will conduct a preliminary scrutiny of such complaints and also consider the response on the allegations leveled in the complaints to decide whether a full-fledged inquiry is called for. The panel will consist of people who are still active in the university system and have sufficient experience.In recent times, former director of IIT, Kharagpur and some of its senior professors and director IIT, Patna have been investigated on several charges. There are allegations of corruption against vice-chancellor of the Mahatma Gandhi International Hindu University, Wardha, as well as various other central government educational institutions.