Higher Education Minister Basavaraj Rayaraddi has come under severe criticism from his own party’s student wing — the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) — which has accused his office of being party to a multi-crore marks card scam.
NSUI State president H.S. Manjunatha submitted a memorandum to K.C. Venugopal, AICC general secretary in-charge of Karnataka, on Tuesday, and demanded that the Minister be instructed to withdraw the order placed for purchase of marks cards for various universities.
He said that Mr. Rayaraddi’s office had shown “undue favour” to a private vendor based in Mumbai by asking the government-owned Mysore Sales International Ltd. (MSIL) to source marks cards from this firm by violating the tender rules under the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurement Act.
The Mumbai-based vendor is a broker of MSIL and is involved in selling fake marks cards/certificates of our universities in other States, he alleged. Though the actual market rate of such quality marks cards and certificates is in the rage of ₹8 and ₹12, MSIL is charging ₹36.5 plus taxes. The actual printing cost is ₹4 per marks card, whereas MSIL is charging over ₹35. Both put together, MSIL is charging over ₹90 per marks card, the memorandum said.
The NSUI leader said the security features provided by MSIL were not working properly and alleged that it was easy to fake/duplicate the marks cards/certificates. The previous Higher Education Minister had rejected the idea after consulting universities in January 2016. But Mr. Rayaraddi “forcefully did it,” he alleged.
The fraudulent practice was affecting several universities and students. “This information is already with the Opposition and they are waiting for elections to damage our party’s image,” Mr. Manjunatha said.
Moreover, the Department or MSIL cannot force universities to buy mark cards/certificates from any agency. Universities are autonomous in this respect, he said and demanded cancellation of the order favouring MSIL (to their broker) and safeguard the reputation of universities and future of students.
Minister responds
Responding to the allegations, Mr. Rayaraddi said he would look into the nature of the complaint and advise universities accordingly. He argued that the department was only trying to ensure that the marks cards were of high quality. “If students want chip marks cards, universities will have to pay a higher amount. Ordinary marks card will be cheaper,” he said.
Youth Congress leaders pulled up
K.C. Venugopal, AICC general secretary in-charge of Karnataka, on Tuesday blasted the youth Congress leaders and questioned their contribution to the party during the run-up to the elections.
“Just holding protests for photographs are not enough. Protests are confined only to Bengaluru. Hold protests against the Modi government’s policies across the State,” Mr. Venugopal reportedly told the youth Congress leaders during interactions with them at the party office here.
Mr. Venugopal also told the National Students’ Union of India leaders to hold protests on December 28, the Congress Foundation Day, against the Modi government. He also instructed them to form 15-member committees and launch jathas to create awareness about the Congress government’s performance in different sectors.
