Irregularities in utilisation of RUSA funds alleged in MKU

Posters, in the name of MUSA, crop up in areas around the university campus

Posters in the name of MUSA have been put up in areas around the university campus.

Posters under the banner of Madurai Kamaraj University Students’ Association (MUSA) have cropped up over the past three days alleging corruption in the utilisation of around ₹. 10 crore sanctioned to Madurai Kamaraj University for infrastructure development under the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA).

In the posters, which had been put up in areas around the university campus, Kalavasal and Mattuthavani, MUSA has demanded a thorough enquiry and action against all the senior MKU officials, particularly K. Ravichandran, Special Officer and RUSA Coordinator, responsible for utilisation of funds. While The Hindu could not verify who the office-bearers or representatives of MUSA were, a student, involved in putting up the poster claimed that MUSA was a collective of students who came together under the banner for specific issues.

MUSA has specifically alleged irregularities in the proposal to set up wi-fi connectivity throughout the campus by utilising RUSA funds. It has claimed that the tender was floated for the project late last year without getting the approval of Finance Committee of the university.

Refusing to divulge specific details, senior officials in the university, however, confirmed that the estimates prepared for utilisation of RUSA funds came under criticism during the Finance Committee meeting last month chaired by the Higher Education Secretary Sunil Paliwal.

The university officials were reportedly asked to provide detailed justification and rationale for the estimates, which were observed to be on the higher end. University sources said that around ₹ 10 crore had been sanctioned by the Ministry of Human Resources Development under RUSA. With the funds, the university had proposed to provide free wi-fi connectivity across the campus, automate operations in library and build an athletic track, apart from construction and maintenance of buildings.

When contacted, Mr. Ravichandran said that the allegations were motivated and baseless. Claiming that the posters were put up with ulterior motives under MUSA banner, he said that transparency was followed in the projects being executed under RUSA, for which the vendors were yet to be finalised.

Denying allegations of MUSA, he said that the tender was floated last year for the wi-fi project only after approval from the then Higher Education Secretary.