CAG flags Rs.13 crore loss at Osmania University

Osmania University lost crores in Central grants due to delayed utilisation and failure to submit certificates, the CAG report said. Funds under UGC, PURSE, PMMMNMTT and RUSA schemes were either underutilised or forfeited, affecting infrastructure and research development.

Hyderabad: Despite having ample funds at its disposal, the cash-starved Osmania University (OU) failed to utilise them in time, losing crores of rupees in grants from the Central government.

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) report released in the Legislative Assembly revealed the poor state of fund utilisation by the university, which led to a loss of nearly Rs.13 crore.

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The University, as per the report, received Rs.31.95 crore from University Grants Commission (UGC) under the 12th Plan General Development Assistance Scheme for improving infrastructure and facilities. A total of Rs.25.18 crore, with Rs.3.49 crore in August 2012, Rs.9.29 crore in July 2013, Rs.6.39 crore in July 2015 and Rs.6.01 crore in September 2021, was disbursed.

The OU, despite receiving funds, delayed utilisation, and audited utilisation certificates were also not submitted to UGC until March 2021, resulting in non-release of the remaining grant of Rs.6.77 crore by the UGC, the report said.

In another case, the university forfeited Rs.2.13 crore under the Promotion of University Research and Scientific Excellence (PURSE). The OU, as per the report, which requested Rs.8.10 crore under the PURSE-II programme in 2017, received only Rs.5.97 crore by October 2020.

Despite this, expenses of Rs.6.89 crore were incurred by December 2022, in expectation of further grants from the Central government. The university spent this amount mainly on purchasing consumables. Further, only Rs.6.78 lakh out of Rs.81 lakh allocated for the manpower component was spent.

Against an amount of Rs.3.46 crore released for purchasing hardware, an amount of Rs.4.01 crore was incurred, resulting in an excess expenditure of Rs.91.45 lakh.

“Non-adherence to expenditure timelines resulted in the University forfeiting the remaining financial assistance of Rs.2.13 crore, which denied the University the opportunity to strengthen its research capacity,” it said.

Further, the university lost Central government assistance of Rs.2.85 crore under the Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya National Mission on Teachers and Teaching (PMMMNMTT) scheme in higher education, aimed at enhancing the professional capabilities of teachers, providing both recurring and non-recurring grants to universities and colleges.

The varsity was allocated Rs.9.50 crore, with a 60:40 share between the Central and State governments. While the Central government released its share of Rs.2.85 crore in 2019, the university failed to secure the matching grant from the State government, resulting in a loss of Rs.2.85 crore Central grant.

This apart, the OU failed to utilise the RUSA 1.0 grants, leading to a loss of Rs.1.12 crore, an amount meant to purchase computers, tables and chairs, from the Central government.