STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: The Students’ Federation of India (SFI), Assam State Committee, has demanded immediate intervention by the Governor of Assam, who is also the Chancellor of Gauhati University. The SFI has called for the Assam Government’s urgent involvement and a high-level investigation into the financial irregularities of Gauhati University. According to SFI, the Assam government has provided a special grant to Gauhati University for several years. At the centre of this controversy is the South East Asian Study Centre, headed by Vice-Chancellor Dr Nani Gopal Mahanta, which has been receiving an annual grant of Rs 1 crore from the state government.
The allegations suggest that these funds have been mismanaged in violation of the university’s financial policies, leading to a serious financial scandal. Specifically, there are three major irregularities that have been reported. Firstly, the Rs 1 crore grants were misplaced into the Examination Account instead of the designated Project Account, raising suspicions of deliberate avoidance of scrutiny.
Secondly, there is no proof of fund transfer from the Examination Account to the Corpus Fund, despite Rs 1 crore being reportedly transferred from the Corpus Fund to the South East Asian Study Centre on October 23, 2017. This lack of transparency deepens suspicions of financial misconduct. Thirdly, the Examination Account is a Current Account, whereas project or corpus funds are generally maintained in Savings Accounts. Depositing government grants in a current account is financially impractical and violates standard financial management protocols, the SFI emphasized. The SFI has strongly stated that corruption at Gauhati University cannot be tolerated, and those responsible for financial mismanagement must be held accountable.
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