The ‘illegal’ transfer of Rs 100 crore for framing courses for open learning and Rs 25 crore for setting up a School of Open Learning Centre centre are some of the allegations mentioned in the ‘white paper’ that Delhi University Teachers’ Association plans to send to DU Visitor President Pranab Mukherjee on financial and other irregularities committed by Vice Chancellor Dinesh Singh.
The teachers’ body on Tuesday said Singh made several inconsistent financial diversions with the help of his “cronies” to grant out-of-turn favours to his pet project.“At least Rs 25 crore was transferred to Ramanujan College, which does not have a building of its own, to set up an SOL study centre,” DUTA said in the white paper, adding that the funds so diverted are from the collection of fee of students of SOL. The governing council meeting of SOL in December 2013 made the decision on transfer of funds.
But the teachers’ body said the school’s staff council was not consulted. Delhi University teachers have also raised eyebrows on university Registrar Alka Sharma making foreign trip with the VC.
“The normal practice used to be that other officers of the university such as the Pro VC, Dean of Colleges and the Director of South Campus represented the university in official foreign tours. These officers are invariably professor, whereas the position of the Registrar is not an academic one,” DUTA said.
DUTA president Nandita Narain said they will demand a comprehensive inquiry against the VC by the Visitor, pending which Singh should be made to go on leave. “His continuing presence in the university, in the capacity of its chief administrative and academic officer, is detrimental to the interests of this university,” she said.
Singh was also accused of authoritative governance and taking arbitrary decision on matters related to programmes and courses of study, tenure and processes of teaching and administrative appointments.
“He replaced structures of collective decision-making by installing loyalists and personal favourites as officers on special duty in colleges and head of departments through out-of-turn and unauthorised appointments,” DUTA said in the white paper.