Indian Express: Shimla: Monday, March 30, 2015.
Two days after BJP MLA and former minister Rajeev Bindal levelled charges of irregularities against Vice-Chancellor of Dr Y S Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni (Solan), Vijay Singh Thakur and demanded a probe by a sitting High Court judge, the latter has said he was ready to face a probe.
“I am ready for a probe by the High Court judge in two weeks and will face any punishment decided by the judge if proven guilty,” said the Vice-Chancellor.
The allegations relate to Rs 2.10 crore European Union International Collaboration research project on sustainable production of apples and pears in Asia, which Dr Thakur had handled as principal investigator during his posting at Horticulture research station, Mashobra, Shimla, between 2001 and 2006.
Bindal, who is BJP’s general secretary, accused the Vice-Chancellor over issues like violation of FERA, university accounts manual and of committing financial irregularities by concealing facts about the project and its accounts.He regretted that a senior leader like Bindal should not have levelled the allegations against a serving professional without complete verification of the records. He said there was no irregularity of any sort in the project.
He claimed a Solan-based lawyer, Ashwani Kumar, had used the RTI to get details of the project and mode of its implementation. Some foreign tours and a vehicle purchased under the funding of the project has raised questions.
When contacted, the V-C said the project was of Rs 2.10 crore but it was later slashed to Rs 70.36 lakh. “All audits and records of the funding and money spent are available for verifications,” he said.
.JPG)
.JPG)
