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| SKUAST VC’s residence may be Chancellor’s envy | | | EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Jan 17: A list of luxurious furniture and fixture, ultra modern gadgets worth Rs 35 lakhs adoring the house hired at Rs 50,000 a month by the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences for its Vice Chancellor stands the example of owner’s pride, neighbour’s envy. Not even the Chancellor, the governor or the Pro-Chancellor, the Chief Minister, would have thought of going for such a plush purchase, particularly when the stuff relinquished by the predecessor was intact.
Of all things ailing Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology Jammu (SKUAST-J) its creditability gap has led to maximum damage. Following serious allegations of large scale bunglings and misappropriation of funds the varsity has remained as centre of controversies in recent past.
The ongoing infighting between administration and members of teaching and non-teaching wings has taken serious dimensions here with the latter has come out with a comprehensive 78-page document highlighting alleged misuse of financial and administrative powers by the existing Vice Chancellor, Dr B Mishra since his appointment on November 14, 2008.
As per the document “SKUAST Jammu comes to a grinding halt with Dr B Mishra” available with the Early Times, it has been alleged that Dr B Mishra misused his position for his personal comforts and luxuries.
“After a report published in a local daily on September 17, 2008 regarding siphoning off official furniture and furnishing articles worth Rs 35 lakh by the former Vice Chancellor (VC) SKUAST-J, Dr Nagandra Sharma, the then incharge VC S L Bhat directed the Estate Officer Iqbal Singh to verify the authenticity of report by carrying out a physical verification of furniture or fixtures items reported to have been siphoned off by Nagandra Sharma as per the news report,” the document maintained.
The document revealed that Estate Officer in his report SU/Estate/08-09/F-42/808 dated September 19, 2008 submitted to then VC through the comptroller SKUAST confirmed that all the household articles, furniture and fixture items were intact at the VC’s official residence.
“When Dr B Mishra took over the charge of Vice Chancellor, it was already established beyond any doubt that the former VC had not siphoned off items of official furniture at the time of supervision. Mishra, however, constituted a committee and ordered for fresh physical verification of furniture and fixture items purchased for the residence of the former Vice Chancellor with reference to the official records, stock, registers, account and purchase records,” the document maintained.
The document further revealed that in the month of January 2009 it was again established that Dr Nagandra Sharma had siphoned off any furniture or fixture items at the time of his superannuation and even the Estate Officer had issued No Objection Certificate in his favour.
“The existing Vice Chancellor again got the matter investigated through the State Vigilance Organisation and special audit of the Finance Department but failed to establish any charge of siphoning of the furniture against the former Vice Chancellor,” the document claimed.
The faculty members through document alleged that Dr B Mishra, under the pretext that former VC had taken away the furniture and fixture items worth Rs 35 lakhs, hatched a “conspiracy” to make fresh purchase of furniture and fixture goods from the open market in “nexus” with Sohan Lal, Store Purchase Officer worth Rs 30 lakh during the period between January 2008 and till March 2009 without inviting tenders.
“Though furniture and other goods worth Rs 50 lakh were intact on the campus, yet the existing VC made fresh purchase,” the document said, adding “Even the Vice Chancellor took away 25 KVA Genset worth Rs 3 lakh from Udhaywala Research Station catering to the high tech project and installed it at his official residence which led to closure of project.”
The document also questioned the removal of former Estate Officer, D L Sharma, from the university alleging Dr Mishra tried to pressurize him for submitting physical verification report against the former Vice Chancellor, Dr Nagendra Sharma.
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