Student welfare funds ‘being spent’ on Palampur varsity gate

Lalit Mohan

Dharamsala, October 12

The Local Funds Audit Committee of the state Assembly, which is touring Kangra district these days, has pointed towards misuse of funds in Chaudhary Sarwan Kumar Agriculture University (CSKAU) at Palampur. The committee headed by Barsar MLA Inder Dutt Lakhanpal has also flagged lapses in the working of the Palampur Municipal Corporation (MC).

Shahpur MLA Kewal Singh Pathania, who was also part of the committee, told The Tribune that during a visit to the CSKAU campus at Palampur, they noticed misuse of public funds. “During a walk on the campus I came to know that a gate was being constructed there at a cost of about Rs 1.5 crore. The committee was surprised to know that while the university was facing a fund crunch, it was spending Rs 1.5 crore on the construction of the gate,” he said.

Pathania said that the committee also noticed that the gate was being constructed without the approval of the Palampur MC. “The committee found that funds meant for student welfare were being spent on the construction of the gate. An inquiry was ordered to ascertain why student welfare funds were being used for the construction of the gate,” he added.

He said the panel also found that funds were misused on the construction of retaining walls on the university campus in the past two years. It sought an explanation from the university authorities in the matter, he added.

Pathania said glaring misuse of authority was also detected in the functioning of the Palampur MC. He added that the committee found that the building map of an influential person was cleared within hours while the maps of others had not been passed for more than 11 years.

He said the committee noticed that in a case the building map submitted at 2.30 pm was cleared by 4 pm. The MC authorities had been asked to explain how the building map of an individual was approved in a few hours while others were waiting for approval for up to 11 years, he added.

Pathania said it was for the first time that the Himachal Assembly had formed a Local Funds Audit Committee that would scrutinise the functioning of municipal councils, corporations, universities and temples across the state. “We shall be seeking inquiries into the misuse of funds wherever it comes to our notice,” he added.