BJP gen secy alleges bungling by Nauni varsity VC

Tribune News Service

Shimla, March 27

Himacal BJP general secretary Rajiv Bindal today made serious allegations of financial misappropriation against Vice-Chancellor of Dr Yashwant Singh Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni (Solan), Vijay Singh Thakur. He demanded a high-level inquiry by a sitting High Court judge into the charges.

Talking to the mediapersons today, Bindal alleged that the Regional Horticulture Research Centre (RHRS) of the university located at Mashobra near Shimla was sanctioned as a Rs 2.10 crore project by the European Union International Collaboration for “sustainable production of apple and pear in Asia for understanding the biology of scab and powdery mildew for developing integrate approaches of disease management”. But no permission was sought from Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) and a code (ICAU2000-10011) was give to the project.

Giving details, Bindal said that the present VC of Nauni University, who was the scientific officer at Regional Centre, Mashobra when the project was sanctioned in 2000-01, was independently handling the project.

As per the information procured through the RTI by a Solan-based advocate Ashwani Kumar, no pre audit or post audit of the project was conducted. The university vide its letters issued on September 11, 18 and 24, 2014 has said that no such code was ever assigned for the project.