LUTA office-bearers flag ‘anomalies’ in honorarium to committee members

Researchers collectively get up to ₹75000 prize money every year, but the award-giving committee members receive nearly ₹7.5 lakh, they allege

LUCKNOW Lucknow University Teachers’ Association (LUTA) officer bearers have written to chief minister Yogi Adityanath, bringing to light the alleged misuse of the university’s finances in the form of “exorbitant honorarium” to the members of the research award-giving committee. A few professors endorsed the action, seeking a probe into the “anomalies”, especially when the institution is facing a financial crunch.

The office-bearers said this practice has grown in the last five years. (Pic for representation)

LUTA vice-president, Arshad Ali Jafri, said the university provides various awards to promote and felicitate those with outstanding research.

“A plan to provide a prize money of ₹1,100 to outstanding researchers had been in place since the time of former V-C Prof SP Singh. Previous V-C Prof Alok Kumar Rai continued this scheme under a new name. Approximately 50 to 60 teachers and researchers collectively get up to ₹75,000 in prize money every year. However, the award-giving committee, comprising the V-C, finance officer, registrar and others, collectively receives honorariums ranging up to ₹7.5 lakh, which is against rules and the spirit of the award scheme This practice has grown in the last five years,” he said.

LUTA vice-presidents Monisha Banerjee and Chandki Ram Gautam echoed similar views, saying the award-winning scholars collectively receive ₹75,000, while the committee that decides these awards gets 10 times the amount..