– Kumar Prasad Chaulagain
Kathmandu, April 17: Tribhuvan University, the country’s oldest public university, has arrears amounting to over Rs 21 billion to be cleared in the two fiscal years, fiscal year 2017/18 and current fiscal year 2018/19, according to a report made public by the Office of the Auditor General.
The arrears to be cleared for the FY 2017/18 are over Rs 2.8 billion. Book keeping of 58 TU’s bodies has not taken place for the consecutive two years, while records of 117 units have not been kept, reads the report. The clearance process has been underway for the total 117 TU’s bodies following failure to keep their records, according to the report.
Of them, 21 received budget citing they lost their records. The TU has spent more than Rs 8 million for incentive to prepare financial details of TU’s bodies. According to the University Financial Management and Procurement Rule 2050, record keeping should be maintained within 35 days of the expiry of a fiscal year. Maximum allocation from the project office The report notes that the highest allocation was from the TU Higher Education Improvement Project Implementation Office.
It is found that the budget allocation on the same heading had taken place eight times while releasing over 133.2 million to 40 TU-affiliated campuses against the agreed provision of receiving the budget of Rs 54 million from the TU Grants Commission (as loan from the World Bank) and allocating the amount to such campuses. The additional amount was managed through budget transfer procedures even without the approval of yearly budget and programmes.
The Auditor General Office has sought the control over allocation without permission and high expenditure than allocation. There are no records mentioning about income from the TU land measuring 108 ropani 14 ana 2 paisa 3 dam (596,434.79 square feet) used by the Laboratory School. The land was given to the school on Shrawan 13, 2057 BS on lease for 15 years, but the school continues to occupy it.
The TU has been suggested that its land should be used for educational purposes only. Besides, the report revealed that teachers and staffs have not cleared loan taken from several funds and its interests on time, and it is yet to recover loan of around Rs 83 billion from 5,148 individuals, but no action is taken for the recovery. Rs 60 million to be realised from 10 medical colleges The OAG’s report pointed out that Rs 60.681 million in institutional fees is to be realised from 10 medical colleges that have got affiliation from the Institute of Medicine (IOM), Dean’s Office.
It is stated in the report that the Dean’s Office has not kept the record of the financial details of the medical colleges which they have to submit every six months. The report of the Office of the Auditor General stated that improvement needed to be made as not all the agencies of Tribhuvan University have had their accounts audited. The university’s registrar has the responsibility and accountability of all financial transactions as the financial chief. RSS
