Amid the liquor scam and schoolgate, Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena on Tuesday flagged the gross violation of accounting procedures, financial mismanagement and inordinate delay in auditing in the public education sector, under the Higher and Technical Education Department.

Saxena also directed the Vice Chancellor of Delhi Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research University (DPSRU) to submit an explanation for delaying CAG audit for five years along with details of officers responsible for this lapse, within 15 days. The LG Secretariat has also written to all VCs to ensure that meetings of the Court of University are held at least twice in a year.

According to the sources, Saxena has expressed serious concern over the undue delay in conduct of audit of the university and has directed the VC to submit an explanation for the delay along with details of officers responsible for this lapse, within 15 days.

A proposal to get the accounts of DPSRU pertaining to 2015-16 audited by the CAG was cleared by the then LG in May 2019, they said.

“It may be noted that DPSRU moved the proposal under the provisions of Section 27 of the University Act and Section 20 of the CAG Act 1971, instead of the relevant and applicable Section 19 (3) of the CAG Act.

This essentially delayed the audit. The CAG had also asked that the entrustment of audit of accounts of four other Universities including Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology Delhi (IIIT-Delhi), Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University for Women (IGDTUW), Delhi Technological University (DTU) and Netaji Subhash University of Technology (NSUT) be also conveyed under Section 19(3),” they informed.

“It took the Delhi Government more than one year to comply with the advice of the CAG and finally a proposal to this effect under the Section 19(3) was made in August 2022, wherein the file for the same yet again came to the LG’s Secretariat from the Chief Minister without his signature, with an observation on the file by the Joint Secretary to CM, to the effect that ‘Hon’ble CM has seen and approved’. Obviously the CM didn’t want to take the responsibility for the lapses in accounting and violation of rules of CAG,” they said. “Saxena has expressed grave concern over unjustifiable and undue delays of more than five years in audit of accounts of Universities under Delhi Government by the CAG,” they said.

 “Saxena has directed the Training and Technical Education/Higher Education Department to take immediate action to ensure entrustment of audit of accounts of all State Universities in accordance with the statutes in place to the CAG,” sources stated.

“The LG has also directed that in future entrustment of audit accounts of all Universities is done immediately on its becoming due, without any delay,” they said.

“The LG, in the course of discharge of his duties as Chancellor has also come across serious and continuous procedural lapses on part of the State Universities and has taken a very serious view of it.

Be it non-audit of accounts in time, unanswered audit objections or not holding of the mandatory annual meetings of the ‘Court of Universities’ all point towards non transparency, adhocism and disregard of accountability,” they claimed.

In a letter written by the LG Secretariat to all Vice Chancellors has underlined that the University Courts are entrusted with statutory responsibility for reviewing the broad policies and programs of University and suggest measures for improvement and development of Universities, they said.