UGC chief going scot-free, but Secy paid the price
January 22, 2010: The Pioneer
While the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) has decided to de-recognise 44 deemed universities, those responsible for giving deemed status to these institutions go scot-free. Serious charges have been levelled against UGC Chairman SK Thorat for ‘orchestrating the scam’ but no action has been mulled against him so far. On the other hand, the whistleblower, who brought the matter to the notice of the Ministry, lost his job.
In letters written to the HRD Ministry in 2008, then UGC Secretary Raju Sharma had disclosed the modus operandi of Thorat, who frequently used the tool of “convenient legal advice¶ rather than go by “an expert committee report¶ in granting deemed university status to these institutions.
In one such letter, Sharma states, “I joined the UGC on February 19, 2008. Within days of my joining, I was confronted with monumental corruption and financial irregularities in the very heart of its functioning. The telling and dangerous aspect was that corrupt and unethical practices were taking place at the behest and with the direct involvement of Chairman of the UGC SK Thorat. I informed the Government about the unprecedented scale of malpractices and complete breakdown of the administrative and financial system.¶
The Secretary refers to his earlier letter to the Ministry and Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), which clearly indicates about the modus operandi. He says, “The pinnacle of corrupt practices was in the nature of two scams, viz, the e-governance project scam and the deemed universities scam. I opposed both the scams, stood my ground and upheld the standards of integrity that I apply to my work.¶
Explaining further, Sharma states, “This dangerous formulation has been granted a numbing veil of self-assumed legal sanctity by the legal opinions of a part time legal consultant appointed by the UGC, who is actually a part-time legal counsel for court cases but who also adduces, at the behest of the Chairman legal advice on all major administrative and financial matters, including the rules and regulations of the Government and the administrative decisions and advice of the Secretary of the Commission. This cozy nexus of justifying the most irregular decisions by a tailor-made legal opinion earns the sole part-time legal consultant a total remuneration that would be in excess of Rs 20 lakh annually. Such a system, wholly masterminded and established by the Chairman himself, is quite unique in the catalogue of administrative management. It obviously cannot absorb or co-exist with any rational and regular Secretary or Financial Advisor (FA). It is not a coincidence that the last FA was also ‘relieved and repatriated’ quite unceremoniously and without basis nearly a year ago. Two events do make a pattern and constitute sufficient proof of sickness and deep malaise in the UGC. It does not require to be stated that the entire matter deserves a thorough and cleansing probe by a professional agency.¶
The former UGC Secretary has clearly registered his protest by writing to the MHRD claiming that he voiced objections about the “opaque and secretive manner in which the Chairman himself would constitute Visit Committees for Deemed University proposals¶ and such files would be with him for long periods. “The constitution of these committees followed no rules and the UGC Secretariat was literally barred from submitting cogent advice in this regard,¶ he wrote.
In another letter, Sharma writes, “It was not easygoing for me at all. The corrupt practices that I unraveled were led by the Chairman himself. He tried sweet talk, persuasion and when nothing worked, he verbally held out the threat of removal.¶ Sharma’s office was sealed while he was away at The Hague on a tour and unceremoniously removed by the Chairman by an administrative act.
