Gross financial irregularities connected to the varsity’s Tura Campus come to light
SHILLONG, Jan 17: The NEHUTA has unearthed gross financial irregularities by Vice Chancellor, Prabha Shankar Shukla as the chairman of the Building Committee while allotting projects worth over Rs 94 crore for the Tura Campus by completely brushing aside all rules and norms of tendering and issuance of a work order.
According to the information available with NEHUTA, Prof Shukla and his associate, Prof Sujata Gurudev who is the Campus Director of Tura, apparently chose firms through nomination to initiate work for the NEHU Tura Campus during the 143rd Building Committee held on October 16 last year.
NEHUTA president Lakhon Kma on Friday revealed that the Building Committee meeting approved the Detailed Project Report for the construction of various projects on the Tura Campus under Pradhan Mantri Jan Vikas Karyakram (PMJVK), a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) under the Ministry of Minority Affairs.
He said the scheme is an area development programme under which community infrastructure and basic amenities are being created in the identified areas which is supposed to be implemented under the aegis of a state government or Union Territory (UT).
Kma said the DPR was surprisingly prepared by the Manipur Tribal Development Corporation Ltd. (MTDCL) which was selected by the Tura Campus as an outsourced agency to carry out the construction of two boys’ hostels, two girls’ hostels, and a 1,000-capacity auditorium on the Tura Campus at a total cost of Rs 92.31 crore.
“How did the Building Committee under the Chairmanship of Prof Shukla resolve to recommend the selection of MTDCL, Manipur to execute these projects in Meghalaya?” he asked.
Seeking to know if there are no capable agencies in Meghalaya, Kma asked why the VC and the Building Committee ignore the provisions of the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution which necessitates permits to be obtained from the respective District Councils within Meghalaya – the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council in this case.
According to him, this underlined the anti-tribal and anti-Meghalaya activities of Prof Shukla and his associate.
“How was the work order issued to Manipur Tourism on 10/9/2024 approved by Prof. Shukla when the Building Committee recommended MTDCL in its meeting held on 16/10/2024. Moreover, the recommendations of the Building Committee have to be first placed and approved by the Executive Council of NEHU whose mandatory meeting has not been held yet,” Kma said.
He stated they would like to know where advertisements for the work were placed since the central government financial rules make it mandatory to advertise such projects through the Central Public Procurement Portal (CPPP).
Kma said the construction of the Food Testing Laboratory on NEHU Tura Campus is to be executed by NEST-IN (TATA Steel Construction Solution Initiative) at a total cost of Rs 1.84 crore.
“How did the Building Committee approve the drawings and the estimate prepared by NEST-IN to be executed by NEST-IN? Were there no other competent bidders? Why was an open tender not floated under the CPPP portal to give equal opportunity to all bidders? Why did Prof Shukla outrightly favour NEST-IN for the project?” Kma asked.
He said the selection of outside agencies such as NEST-IN and MTDCL, Manipur for tendering and execution of work is grave for a central university situated in Meghalaya under the Sixth Schedule.
Kma said that in the history of NEHU, such an abrasive, palpably illegal, and horrendous attempt to siphon off developmental funds without following any due process has never happened.
“It all points to how Prof Shukla wants to sell off the Tura campus to private agencies, which are just a few of his most egregious acts to destroy the rights of tribal people and communities of Meghalaya through the NEHU, be it the Shillong or Tura campus,” he said.
Kma alleged that Prof. Shukla was in cahoots with the illegally appointed Prof. Gurudev to hand over NEHU works to private agencies and corporations from other states.
“This is an act of sheer wheeling-dealing with an agency at the back of which no one knows what is the design. How can a Manipur government agency execute a work (at any stage) at NEHU? Prof. Shukla and Prof. Gurudev are deliberately violating the laws of the Sixth Schedule to deprive the local community of contractors and handing over the works to agencies outside Meghalaya,” he said.
Kma also pointed out that Prof. Shukla chaired a meeting of the Building Committee after MTDCL accepted technical bids on November 17, 2023.
“The question is why an agency from Manipur is to be selected on nomination for work in Meghalaya. The agency selected has invited tenders through the e-procurement portal of the Manipur government,” he said, alleging that this is a bid to prevent fair competition.
Stating that a local contractor is not expected to check a Manipur government portal for work to be executed in Meghalaya, he said the portal of the Manipur government received tenders from some Imphal-based entities. “It is a crystal-clear sign of manipulative tenders,” he added.
Kma said that for argument’s sake, only a few in Manipur will be willing to come to Meghalaya for executive work without qualifying to do so technically and legally.
“How can the firms that participated in the tenders have any trading license to work in the Garo Hills? It is a massive fraud given that the total value of works stands at Rs. 92.31 crore,” the NEHUTA president said.
He, however, said it was fortunate that Prof. Shukla “absconded” before he could hold the Executive Council meeting to approve the above recommendation of the Building Committee.
“Indeed, in the last few days, Prof. Gurudev has been taking a keen interest in pushing the matter and pressuring the NEHU authority to approve these projects in Tura after bypassing all mandatory procedures. Indeed, Prof. Gurudev’s role in the entire process is highly questionable and requires thorough investigation,” he said.
According to him, she (Prof Gurudev) signed the invitation of Expression of Interest cum Request for Proposal on 13/10/2023 for projects worth Rs. 260 crore although it is the job of the university engineer in the Campus Development Department (CDD) at the NEHU headquarters in Shillong.
“As the so-called Campus Director, her financial limit for any work is Rs. 5 lakh only. Yet, this was approved by Prof. Shukla in violation of rules set by the Executive Council of NEHU. Surprisingly, she also signed on the Award of Contract to MTDCL, Manipur on December 11, 2023, which is again the job of CDD,” the NEHUTA president said.
Kma further observed that by trying to outsource the Tura Campus projects to MTDC Ltd, Prof Gurudev and Prof Shukla favoured the Manipur agency indicating an action of omissions and commissions.
He said that due to procedural flaws in the entire tendering process, a Kolkata-based firm has served a legal notice to the Executive Engineer of MTDCL. The entire process of undertaking the projects on the Tura Campus needs to be scrapped, he added.
The NEHUTA president said the Tura Campus projects are “shining examples” of Prof Shukla’s habitual gross violation of the NEHU Act and statutes and the Government of India Rules.
He added that these serious financial irregularities add to his already full sack of misdeeds in NEHU and the abuse of power to encourage corruption and corrupt practices. These warrant his removal as the VC, he said.
He said the NEHUTA has demanded a probe against Prof Shukla and Prof Gurudev by the NEHU authority and removal from their posts.