The
Hindu: Mumbai: Thursday, 19 November 2015.
A range of
irregularities, including siphoning off public funds and instances of
corruption and nepotism, have come to light at the National Institute of
Industrial Engineering (NITIE), recognised as a centre of excellence by the
government of India, on par with the IITs and the IIMs.
A letter by
Shiv Sena MP and Public Accounts Committee member Gajanan Kirtikar to Union HRD
Minister Smriti Irani, dated June 16, 2015, said, “It may be stated that a
large number of irregularities have been noticed in recruitment, overpayment of
bills, favouritism, monopoly of some persons in certain sections/departments,
and rackets for financially cheating the NITIE for fake cases.”
Mr.
Kirtikar’s letter to Ms. Irani follows an earlier letter to NITIE director
Karuna Jain dated June 4, listing nine corrupt practices.
According to
this communication, NITIE has been paying its legal advisor advocate A.M.
Nathani in excess of the stipulated rates by the Ministry of Law and Department
of Personnel and Training (DoPT).
“It is
reliably known that since 2011, he has been paid more than Rs. 1.5 crore. It is
further said that some of the NITIE authorities and officers are hand in glove
and are benefited by the commissions regularly paid by Mr. Nathani.
The huge
amount of money paid to Mr. Nathani during the tenure of the present director
without following the government rates and norms speaks volumes of the corrupt
practices at NITIE,” the letter said.
Information
obtained under the RTI by a source gives a detailed account of how the
institute used its legal team to siphon off public funds.
In one case
of ‘disciplinary matter’, the institute paid Rs. 8.54 lakh to Mr. Nathani
acting as presenting officer (PO) and Rs. 1.18 lakh to inquiry officer (IO) A.
A. Lad (retired judge), as per an RTI reply of March 3, 2013. The honorarium
payable to IO/PO per case is Rs. 10,000 and Rs. 75,000 if he/she is retired, as
listed in a government circular of December 31, 2012.
NITIE even
used public money to defend its former professor Amitabh De in a criminal case
of Dalit atrocity. Another RTI reply shows that a hefty sum of Rs. 21.54 lakh
was paid to Mr. Nathani and other lawyers in 2012-2013.
Mr.
Kirtikar’s letter of June 4 also points to an ‘inquiry racket’ of sorts. “A new
methodology of making safe money has been invented at NITIE presumably with the
help of the management. The method is simple: issue show cause notice to
officers and employees over non issues and announce a domestic inquiry with the
appointment of Mr. Nathani as PO and his advocate friend as IO without any
provision of rules. Pay them huge sums of money beyond the government norms and
give them perks and free transport facility at the cost of NITIE even though
the same is not permitted.”
Furthermore,
a recruitment scam where two assistant professors were appointed even when they
did not have a PhD at the time of short-listing, ‘illegal’ and unsanctioned
U.S. tour by NITIE director for which a ‘huge advance’ was drawn from NITIE,
‘illegal MoUs with foreign universities’, and ‘undue favouritism to account
officers’, indicate a shocking state of affairs at the centre. The Hindu has
copies of Mr. Kirtikar’s letters as well as replies obtained under the RTI Act.
When
contacted, Mr. Kirtikar said he had visited NITIE, located in Powai, Mumbai,
and the issues raised by him were ‘serious’. “I will follow it up with the
Ministry. I had also discussed these problems with the director.”
A petition
highlighting the alleged malpractices at NITIE has been filed at the High
Court. Repeated attempts to reach Ms. Jain on the phone and email yielded no response.
Her office told The Hindu to send queries on email, but 48 hours later, there
was no reply.
NITIE was
established in 1963 by the HRD Ministry with the assistance of the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP) through the Inter national Labour Organisation
(ILO) with a mission to nourish a learning environment conducive to foster
innovations in productivity and business development.
A large
number of irregularities have been noticed in recruitment, overpayment of bills
and monopoly of some persons
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