Delhi University diverted OBC fund to buy laptops: Panel

NEW DELHI: UGC-appointed Satyam Committee has found that Delhi University diverted more than Rs 100 crore from OBC fund to buy 62,600 laptops, most of which are lying unclaimed. However, the panel did not find any evidence of misappropriation of funds.
The committee also found that DU also did not take statutory approval for expenditure on other heads. What it found surprising was that vice chancellor Dinesh Singh was part of the oversight committee under Veerappa Moily that worked out the modalities of OBC fund and how it was to be spent.“The VC should have known how the OBC fund was sacrosanct and not meant to push his own agenda of Four-Year Undergraduate Programme,” a panel member said. It also found that the students refused to accept laptops as the university authorities had put many conditions.
The report will be a shot in the arm for Delhi University Teachers’ Association that was first to come up with evidence on diversion of OBC funds and demand the VC’s resignation. Since the price at which laptops were purchased was not provided by the DU authorities, DUTA had taken the cost of each computer at Rs 16,999- the amount spent by the university on each laptop for its Equal Opportunities Cell. DUTA alleged Rs 106.41 crore were diverted.