Nagpur: Vice chancellor SP Kane on Tuesday termed the department of higher education’s move to deduct Rs23 lakh from the salaries of Nagpur University employees as “wrong”, and suggested that it should have been directly recovered from former registrar Puran Meshram.
Kane told reporters he would be writing to the government on the deduction. “The university has not taken any stand regarding the pay scale issue of the former registrar. It was wrong on the part of director of higher education to deduct the amount from the salaries of all employees,” Kane said.
A visibly disturbed VC said the deduction means the rest of the employees are bearing the brunt of the dues owed by an individual. “The government should have recovered the dues from that particular individual (Meshram). Ultimately, it is the government which has to settle the dues of retirement benefits and pension. The final settlement is yet to be done,” he said.
NU finance and accounts officer Raju Hiwase too said the government already has Meshram’s gratuity, provident fund, leave encashment, if any, etc. “The deduction has caused a deficit in the university’s funds. The government could have adjusted it from the dues it owes to Meshram,” Hiwase said.
Kane explained that the government sanctions around Rs4 crore for disbursement of salaries to NU employees every month. “But, the funds are not deposited on time, and sometimes get delayed by three months. As per our arrangement, the salaries are deposited on the first of every month in employees’ accounts using the general funds, and later adjusted from government funds,” Kane said.
Kane added that joint director Archana Nerker, in her letter, stated that Rs22,84,273 paid in excess to Meshram since 2009 was being deducted from the June 2018 salaries. “The deduction has now caused a deficit and general funds would be short by Rs23 lakh,” he said, reiterating that the government should have adjusted it in its settlement with Meshram’s benefits.
Director of Higher Education Dhanraj Mane and joint director Archana Nerker didn’t answer TOI’s calls and SMSes.
Meshram, who superannuated on June 30, had been fighting for pay scale, service extension and retirement benefits accorded to a teacher. The former registrar had never held any teaching posts in his career spanning three decades. The recovery of Rs23 lakh was against the excess salary paid to Meshram during his appointment as assistant registrar.
FURNITURE SCAM: EX-WARDEN TO BE SUSPENDED
Nagpur University’s inquiry committee led by finance and accounts officer Raju Hiwase investigating the hostel scam has indicted associate professor at physics department Prakash Shedmake. The administration would be soon suspending the former warden, who allegedly embezzled Rs20 lakh that had to be refunded to hostel students after completion of their term, and also inflated furniture bills.
The report was submitted recently and vice chancellor SP Kane is likely to issue suspension order by next week. The Hiwase committee found that Shedmake had shown that 150 tables and chairs, and 181 cots were bought for the Boys Hostel located at Law College Square. However, the warden had actually bought only 50 tables and chairs, and 81 cots while the funds for the rest of the furniture were siphoned off by him.
CENTRE SEEKS DETAILS OF VC KANE’S PROJECT
Vice chancellor SP Kane’s project titled ‘Design and Development of Service surrender queuing models and its application to travel ticket reservation system of Indian Railways’ is likely to be listed in directories on Extra-mural Research and Development project of the Department of Science and Technology (DST).
The national Science and Technology Management Information System (NSTMIS) division of DST has sought details of Kane’s project. The NSTMIS would be reviewing the projects sanctioned by DST between 2010-15. Kane’s project was sanctioned by DST in 2011-12.
