Times of India; Akshaya Mukul; Apr 3, 2011,
NEW DELHI: In a move to unearth the modus operandi of granting recognition to technical institutes by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and later deemed university status by UGC and HRD ministry, the CBI has called five HRD officials, including R K Goyal, former private secretary of the then HRD minister late Arjun Singh.
CBI's move relates to investigation into the manner in which Maharishi Markandeshwar Institute first got recognition by AICTE and later the coveted deemed university status, which was given by the HRD ministry at the recommendation of UGC. "Investigation into the role of K Narayana Rao, former member-secretary, AICTE, has exposed the role of the then minister's office," a source said.
Apart from Singh's former private secretary, CBI has asked the three officials of higher education department the then director, joint secretary, under secretary and the assistant private secretary to Singh to explain how the system of granting deemed university worked.
Some of the officials have already explained to CBI how the process worked in general, and what happened in the specific case of Maharishi Markandeshwar, which got the deemed university status under the de novo (new and emerging areas of knowledge) category.
Sources said, "CBI has found out about the involvement of a senior official along with officials in the then minister's office. We called these officials to see if all the procedures were followed." RTI query into the grant of deemed university status to Maharishi Markandeshwar reveals that within days of its proposal for getting the deemed university status, Singh's office had started asking the concerned ministry officials about an update. Also, most of the decisions were taken when the then joint secretary was on tour.
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