Unfruitful expenditure of `3.52 crore on hiring DU bus service puts admin in dock

New Delhi: Poor planning and mismanagement led to a financial loss of Rs 3.52 crore to Delhi University, which forced the institution to abandon the varsity bus ferry service. However, the university tried to cover up its mistakes while accumulating money from funds allotted to different causes.

"To meet the requirement of expenditure for hiring of DTC buses, the university diverted Rs 1.78 crore from University development fund, Rs 1.5 crore from OBC grants, Rs 60 lakh from the XIIth plan, while violating the instruction issued by the UGC at the time of releasing the funds. Moreover, the entire misappropriated use of funds for last seven years was later exposed in an audit report.

According to an official, "No feasibility study was conducted by the committee before recommending the proposal to ascertain the number of bonafide persons of the university and students who were supposed to avail this facility. However, from the records made available to audit, it appears that the financial implication involved in introducing the scheme was also not deliberated by the committee members.

In the award letter, it has been mentioned that only the bonafide persons of the university would be allowed to avail this facility on a nominal payment of Rs 5 per ticket. However, it was later revised to Rs 10 per head. Officials added that staff who are residing in and around the university campus can avail the facility. Meanwhile, students of the varsity were not allowed to avail this facility as they have already concessional passes from the DTC. Moreover, the DTC is also operating its regular bus services along the route of the university ferry bus services.

According to the CAG report, a number of battery-driven rickshaw are running at metro stations and they are plying on the same routes as the varsity ferry service and they charge a nominal price. Moreover, the capacity of e-rickshaw is small which gets filled early and students and other bonafide persons of the university preferred the rickshaw in order to avoid the delay of the university bus ferry service, which takes time to get filled and then ply on route.

The reports also added that due to above-mentioned facts, the commuters using the ferry service are declining as a result of which the university has no option but to bear huge deficit which has accumulated to Rs 3.52 crore since the introduction of this scheme till May 2016. "Due to injudicious decision, the DU incurred an unavoidable expenditure of Rs 3.52 crore by hiring the bus services which were in fact not required in view of the above observation and also non-utilisation of bus service by the students," the official said.

He further added that varsity in a reply to CAG said that the provision of feeder bus service for both campuses of the university –South and North –was made on the request of President, Delhi University Students' Union. Currently, two buses are plying in the north campus for the benefit and welfare of the student community as well as the teaching and non-teaching staff of the University of Delhi.