Committee recommends unique Codes for participating students

PUNE: After the financial irregularities in the Earn-and-Learn scheme at the Savitribai Phule Pune University, the committee appointed to look into the matter has submitted a list of recommendations to the Management Council, to avoid such scams in the future.

The committee, headed by former SPPU vice chancellor (VC) Arun Adsul, stated that each of the students enrolling for the Earn-and-Learn programme at the university should be assigned a particular code number.

“This number would be called ‘Earn by Learn’ (EL) Code. We have proposed that this number must be assigned to a student enrolled in the programme after a due recommendation letter from his/her own Head of the Department (HoD). Once enrolled, the Aadhaar number, bank account number and thumb impression of the students would be linked to the EL Code,” Adsul told Sakal Times.

The Earn-and-Learn scam involved a fraud of over Rs 3 lakh in the name of fake beneficiaries.

“With the codes assigned to each and every student enrolled in the scheme, one bank account could be linked to one code only,” Adsul said. 

“Further, we would be making a Master list, wherein we would ensure that in a month’s time, money could be deposited in one particular account only once,” Adsul added.

The draft of recommendations was formed in a meeting conducted by the committee on July 24, after which it has been submitted to the Management Council. 

Since new admissions are going on, and the new academic year is about to start, Adsul said the recommendations were made on priority.

“We expect a positive response from the students and the Management Council,” Adsul said.
Around 1,400 to 1,500 students are benefited by the Earn-and-Learn programme at Savitribai Phule Pune University every year.

75 pc attendance rule stricter
The committee said attendance of the students in the Earn-and-Learn programme will be regulated more strictly. “The students are here to learn. Earning is secondary. Hence, it would be compulsory for the students to have 75 per cent attendance in their course every month. The HoDs would be responsible for submitting the students’ attendance records. If the students do not complete 75 per cent attendance in a particular month, he/she would not be paid for that month,” Adsul said.

He said if a student has attendance lower than 75 per cent for three months, he/she would be excluded from the programme permanently. The remuneration would be decided according to the number of working hours. 

“We have decided that one student would be allowed to be part of the programme for two years only, so that more and newer students would be able to avail the benefits of the programme every year. Also, if a student’s year is down, he would be excluded from the programme permanently,” Adsul stated.

Recommendations 

• Each student to get a unique EL code.
• 75 per cent attendance in course mandatory.
• Student to be excluded if he or she fails and is not eligible for ATKT for the year.
• A student can avail benefits of the programme for two years only.