A few organisations, including Karnataka Dalit Sangharsh Samiti (Ambedkarite) and AHIND Forum, and Rajiv Gandhi Panchayat Raj Organisation, have said that Vice-Chancellor (Acting) of Central University of Karnataka M.V. Alagawadi and Registrar (Acting) Basavaraj Donur have violated norms and rules governing the institution.
In a letter to President Ramnath Kovind, State convenor of Karnataka Dalit Sangharsh Samiti (Ambedkarite) S.R. Kollur, State president of AHIND Forum Saibanna Jamadar, Divisional Convenor of Rajiv Gandhi Panchayat Raj Organisation Shoukat Ali Alur and social activist Ramesh Neelur have listed out what according to them are various violations and irregularities committed by the Acting Vice-Chancellor and the Acting Registrar and sought action against the two.
Copies of the letter have been sent to the Ministry of Education, Chairman of University Grant Commission, Chancellor of Central University of Karnataka and members of the Executive Council and the Academic Council of the university.
They have accused Prof. Alagawadi of giving financial powers to the Acting Registrar to spend money up to ₹4 lakh whereas the Executive Council, the highest governing body of the university, had authorised the Acting Registrar to spend only up to ₹50,000.
The activists also said that Prof. Alagawadi and Prof. Donur, being in-charge Vice-Chancellor and in-charge Registrar, misused their positions and violated the procurement procedures by purchasing items worth up to ₹5 lakh without calling for tenders.
The third major charge is that the two top officers continued Shivanandam, who was on deputation as Finance Officer in the university, even after the expiry of the deputation period and his superannuation.
“Prof. Alagawadi and Prof. Donur are not holding their offices as regular Vice-Chancellor and regular Registrar and they cannot take decisions on vital issues. Being Acting Vice-Chancellor and Acting Registrar, they can take decisions only on routine matters. But, they are making decisions on vital issues such as appointments and financial matters. We will wait for response from the President, who is a Visitor to the Central University, and the Union government to our letter. If action is not taken against the Acting Vice-Chancellor and Acting Registrar, then we will plan for a larger agitation,” Mr. Alur told The Hindu.
A few days ago, the legality of continuation of Mr. Shivanandam as Finance Officer in the university even after his deputation period had expired was questioned by the university staff. As many as 26 members from teaching and non-teaching staff recently wrote to the Acting Vice-Chancellor objecting to the decision. The Acting Vice-Chancellor, in turn, took objection to their “gross misconduct” and issued show-cause notice to 12 members.
Vice-Chancellor of Gorakhpur University Rajesh Singh and a member of the Executive Council of Central University of Karnataka also raised similar objections in his letter to the Acting Registrar on Thursday.
He asked the Acting Registrar to postpone the 54th Executive Council meeting which was scheduled for Friday and where the issue of continuation of Mr. Shivanandam as Finance Officer was supposed to have been taken up for discussion. He made it clear that such an important issue could only be discussed in the presence of a regular Vice-Chancellor and a regular Registrar and not those who occupied positions on a provisional basis.
And, the Executive Council meeting was held on Friday. When contacted, Prof. Donur said that he cannot divulge now details of the discussions at the meeting. “Minutes are finalised only after the approval of all members present in the meeting and this takes time. Such details cannot be divulged before that,” Prof. Donur told The Hindu.