The cash-strapped Gomal University of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) has lost millions of rupees in a fake bank receipts scam.
According to reports, the university’s inquiry committee has found that Rs. 7.8 million were collected from students of three departments, but the amount was never deposited in the varsity’s bank account.
An official of the inquiry committee said that the mentioned amount was just the tip of the iceberg as it is the fee of a single semester of three departments of the university.
“We are conducting a high-level inquiry in the light of the findings of the initial probe, and the embezzled sum is likely to be higher than the detected one,” said the official.
Following this initial inquiry, a high-level inquiry will scrutinize the financial records of five years of all departments, he added.
Fake Stamps With No Dates
During random scrutiny of fee records, the inquiry committee found that faculties of pharmacy, veterinary, animal sciences, and law, had no proper record of deposited semester fees. The committee found that a private bank in Dera Ismail Khan was using different stamps for fee deposit slips without a date.
Therefore, the committee has recommended all departments, hostels, examination, and provost sections to verify the record of both semester fee and exam fee deposited by the students since March 2018 through an online portal and submit the report to the competent authority within two months.
The committee directed that all concerned departments should verify the fee records through an online portal twice a year – June and December – and submit the report to the finance directorate.
The committee said that the clerical staff should be directed to accept only computerized slips with the amount mentioned in both words and figures on the slips from June 7, 2021, onwards. The clerical staff should be held responsible if the amount is not written in words on the slip, or if is filled by hand.
The vice-chancellor of Agriculture University Dera Ismail Khan, Prof. Masroor Elahi Babar, who also holds the additional charge of Gomal University, has also confirmed embezzlement of fees.
“When I noticed some doubts in the students’ fee, I ordered a two-member probe committee, which detected many cases of embezzlement in the fee,” he said.
Prof. Masroor Elahi said that he presented the two-member initial inquiry report before the syndicate, which then approved the constitution of a five-member inquiry committee for further inquiry.
The vice-chancellor said that the probe will be completed soon, and the report will be presented to the syndicate as it is the proper forum to decide the issue.
