Grants to two colleges under UGC scanner

The Delhi Police have registered two separate cases of cheating and forgery and are investigating a possible scam in University Grants Commission (UGC) pertaining to unauthorised grants of funds to two different colleges in Punjab and Varanasi, reports Karn Pratap Singh.

The Delhi Police have registered two separate cases of cheating and forgery and are investigating a possible scam in University Grants Commission (UGC) pertaining to unauthorised grants of funds to two different colleges in Punjab and Varanasi.

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The FIRs in connection with the offences have been registered at the central Delhi's IP Estate police station on the basis of complaints lodged by the deputy secretary of UGC.

According to a senior police officer, the cases were registered following preliminary investigations into the complaints that revealed that funds of over Rs.1 crore were released to Patel Memorial National College located in Rajpura area of Punjab's Patiala district and to Baldeo PG College in Varanasi.

The funds were sanctioned and released on the basis of forged documents, as both the colleges are allegedly not eligible for the grants, the officer said.

Devesh Chandra Srivastava, additional CP (central), confirmed that RC Kandera UGC deputy secretary lodged the complaints regarding issuing of demand drafts of Rs.54 lakh and Rs.45 lakh to Patel Memorial National College and Rs.40 lakh to Baldeo PG College.

Investigators have already initiated their investigation to unearth the possible scam in UGC and are planning to question some staffers to ascertain their role in the matter.

The police will also collect documents from UGC headquarters located at Bahadurshah Zafar Marg to find out if more colleges in India have been issued grants through fraudulent means.