CBI Accuses IIT Kharagpur Chief in Technical Institutes Scam

Tightening its noose on the AICTE (All India Council for Technical Education) scam, the CBI has found the involvement of its former chairperson Damodar Acharya, who is now the director of IIT-Kharagpur. In an investigation report presented before HRD ministry in May, the agency found involvement of five others in different cases of illegal approval to technical institutes.

The Central Bureau of Investigation has named RA Yadav former chairman, AICTE; Y  Venkateswara Rao, Director, National Institute of Technology, Warangal; MS Palanichamy, former vice chancellor, Tamil Nadu Open University; M Afshar Alam, Faculty of Management and Information Technology, Jamia Hamdard University and M Altaf Khan of Department of Commerce and Business Studies, Jamia Milia Islamia. According to CBI sources, the HRD ministry has still not taken action with regards to these officials.

In case of Acharya, who was the chairperson of AICTE from May 16, 2005, to June 30, 2007, CBI's investigation shows that in 2005-06 a new system was started for extension of approval to technical institutes. This comprised submitting compliance report along with mandatory disclosures by the institutes for extension of approval.

The case, which involves Acharya, relates to Padmavathi Engineering College, which is run by Pachaiammal Educational Trust. In 2006-07 when the institute submitted to AICTE the proposal for extension of approval, an appraisal panel recommended to reduce the intake from 180 to 90 seats as it found 42.5% shortage in faculty members. Even the principal was not a postgraduate and teachers were not paid AICTE pay scales.

Source: Prachi Srivastava (Shiksha Team)
Date: 22^nd July, 2011