‘VU authorities failing to act on financial scam’

11 October 2012

biswabrata goswami
MIDNAPORE, 11 OCT: Despite Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's occasional calls for a corruption-free administration, the Vidyasagar University authorities seem to be trying to shield the financial scam of Prof. Swapan Kumar Pramanick, the varsity's former vice-chancellor.
This was revealed through replies to several RTI applications filed by Mr Abhijit Guha, Senior Reader in the Department of Anthropology. 
University Finance Officer Anandamay Sarkar in a 19 August note on the Mr Guha's 10 August RTI application, admitted Prof. Pramanick submitted neither the boarding cards nor air tickets for his tour to Beijing to attend the 36th World Congress of Sociology, which was held 7-11 July 2004. 
After receiving this information, Mr Guha on 3 October complained to Acting Vice-Chancellor Ranjan Chakrabarti, seeking action against finance department officials since copies of air tickets and boarding cards are the two essential vouchers for getting reimbursed money for air travel. 
"The vice-chancellor, however, did not initiate any action against the concerned officials of VU on the ground that already a two-member inquiry committee has been formed by the West Bengal State Council for Higher Education to probe the alleged misappropriation of UGC Unassigned Grants fund by Prof. Pramanik who enjoyed two successive terms during the rule of the Left Front government in West Bengal," Dr Guha said.
Meanwhile, despite the issuance of a letter dated 27 July by the deputy secretary of the UGC to the registrar of VU to refund Rs 60,976 and show reasons for the misappropriation of the money, Prof. Chakraborty and the Trinamul-led executive council have not taken action. No move has yet been taken by the varsity authorities to refund the money allegedly misappropriated by its former Prof. Pramanick, Mr Guha alleged, and the West Bengal State Council for Higher Education has not yet announced a deadline for the investigation by the committee it created. When questioned, Prof Chakraborty said: “The higher education department has set up a committee and the committee has only right to speak about this matter. This apart I was not vice-chancellor here when the incident occurred. And so, I have no idea how the former vice-chancellor withdrew money without showing proper documents”.