TN forms panel to redeem universities from audit mess
The committee will investigate the irregularities and may waive the refunds previously sought, in eligible instances.
Updated on:
29 Feb 2024, 8:12 am
CHENNAI: To deal with the huge backlog of audit objections regarding funds in the 13 state universities, the government has formed a high-level committee headed by the principal secretary of the higher education department, to expeditiously clear the pending objections. Welcoming the move, officials from the universities said the will help effectively clear the objections and pave the way for receiving timely grants.
“Citing the audit objections, the state government has not been releasing funds to the universities due to which, the universities are struggling to manage expenses. If the audit objections are cleared, it will be a great relief for us,” said a senior official at a state university. A government order in this regard was issued on Tuesday.
The decision was taken after the universities complained to the higher education department that they were unable to resolve the objections at the regional level and that a state-level committee might be helpful in resolving the issues.
In the eight-member committee, the special director of local fund audit will act as the member secretary while the deputy director will be the special invitee. The assistant director, deputy secretary of the higher education department, registrar and finance officers of the universities concerned and representative of the principal secretary of the state finance department will be other members of the committee.
The committee will investigate the irregularities and may waive the refunds previously sought, in eligible instances. Similarly, it has to prescribe a methodology for settling the outstanding audit paras, especially pensioners, to explore the possibility of devising common policies, procedures and internal control mechanisms governing the key aspects of the functioning of universities.
The committee will monitor timely audit, submission of the annual accounts and audit reports and suggest to the vice chancellor and syndicate body to take appropriate action in case of serious irregularities. It will also recommend ways to recover losses from the staff concerned in case of irregularities. The panel will meet at least once every quarter.
Notably, in the 13 state universities, thousands of audit objections have been pending for several years due to which they are unable to get grants from the state government. Most of the local fund audit objections are related to salary discrepancy, promotion, and appointment. In some cases, the pensioners are not receiving retirement benefits due to the pending audit objections.
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