No misappropriation of funds: DU panel probing financial irregularities in 12 colleges

The panel, comprising members of the Executive Council, was formed after Delhi Education Minister Atishi last year in December wrote a letter to the Centre flagging 'irregularities and procedural lapses involving hundreds of crores of rupees from the public exchequer' in these colleges.

New Delhi: A Delhi University committee investigating alleged "financial irregularities" in 12 Delhi government-funded colleges has ruled out any misappropriation of funds and said the colleges can continue with their affiliation with the university.

The panel submitted its findings in a report that was presented in the 1270th meeting of the DU's Executive Council convened on Saturday to approve and discuss some key decisions. The Executive Council (EC) is the university's highest decision-making body.

In its report, the committee has stated that the recognition of these 12 colleges cannot be cancelled according to rules and they are an integral part of the Delhi University (DU).

The panel, comprising members of the EC, was formed after Delhi Education Minister Atishi last year in December wrote a letter to the Centre flagging "irregularities and procedural lapses involving hundreds of crores of rupees from the public exchequer" in these colleges.

The probe panel said the letter written by the minister suggesting de-affiliation of the colleges from DU should be withdrawn.

"There is no unauthorised appropriation of funds from one item to another. There is no arbitrary and irregular payment for cleanliness and security. There is no financial irregularity in the colleges," the report said.

The 12 colleges are constituent colleges of the university "as per the prescribed norms and are an integral part of DU", it said.

"Their recognition cannot be cancelled. As such, any attempt to disaffiliate these colleges from the University of Delhi is neither legally justifiable nor in the interest of the students, teaching and non-teaching staff and the academic community of the university," stated the report which will now be sent to the Union education ministry and the Delhi government.

Though some teachers' groups and some members of the panel did not fully agree with the report, it was accepted by the EC.

The EC also approved a host of proposals, including funding from HEFA for three projects -- Rs 373 crore for the construction of an academic building at Surajmal Vihar, Rs 140 crore for the construction of college/academic building at Roshanpura Najafgarh and Rs 107.18 crore for the construction of an academic building on a vacant land at Dwarka.

The recommendations of another committee constituted to prepare guidelines for review of passing and promotion norms and rules for students under the NEP UGCF-2022 were also approved.

According to the recommendations of the committee, students have to obtain at least 28 credits out of the total credits of both semesters for promotion in the next year.

However, students representing the DU in sports and extracurricular activities may be exempted from this requirement, subject to prior approval of the competent authority.

Besides these, the EC also gave nod for starting new courses in the university such as the M.Tech. Computer Science programme with 30 seats and BA (Hons) in Russian language from the academic session 2024-25.

Several proposals were also dropped by the EC after receiving objections from members. These included allowing donors to name or rename DU properties through contributions.

The members also submitted a dissent note on alleged substandard School of Open Learning study material and an order to charge retired employees for health services.

Giving information regarding admission for the academic year 2024-25, Vice Chancellor Yogesh Singh said the admission process is underway for postgraduate courses, B.Tech and five-year BA LLB and BBA LLB.

"Three rounds of admission have been completed in all the three programs. In PG, about 11,000 out of 13,000, that is, about 90 per cent of the seats have been filled in three rounds. The admission process is going on in the first spot round. In the five-year integrated law programmes, 95 out of 120 seats have been filled. The spot round process is on for the remaining," he said in a statement.

Singh said around 200 candidates have taken admission in B.Tech, and the fourth list is about to be released.