An audit of the accounts of Panjab University (PU) for the year 2013-2014 has pointed out insufficient mobilisation of internal resources at the varsity. The scrutiny has revealed that the university has been able to generate internal resources varying from 0.54 to 0.86 per cent only in the case of library fees, and 5.08 to 6.37 per cent in the case of hostel fees of recurring expenditure, in a period of 20 years. As per recommendations of the Punnyya Committee on UGC funding of institutions of Higher Education, it was stated that universities must generate internal resources in continuation of getting funds from the government It also stated that the internal resources should be sizable in a course of time and must constitute at least 15 per cent of the total recurring expenditure at the end of five years and at least 25 per cent at the end of 10 years. In the audit report, it has been pointed out that the university is not even recovering the recurring cost of hostels, let alone the recovery of the capital cost which has led to an undue financial burden on the university. With funds from the Centre being frozen for now, the university is also dealing with a financial crisis this year. Excess expenditure due to change of scope of work The audit report points out an excessive expenditure to the tune of Rs 1,21,96,718, which was caused due to a change in scope of work in the construction of girls’ hostel 9. During the second phase of the extension of the hostel, a Rs 6.72-crore plan was approved by the university authorities. However, the plan was revised after the construction of a dining hall and a boundary wall. Work pertaining to furniture and fire-fighting was also added to the list of work to be done at the hostel. For a sum of Rs 4,86, 31,466, the work was allotted to a successful bidder on August 8, 2012. The report further reads, “As per the terms and conditions, the work was to be completed in February 2014, whereas as per the 19th Running Bill (March 2014), the total expenditure of the work was Rs 6,08,28,184, which resulted in the excess expenditure.” It has also been pointed out that due to delay in completion of work, the authority failed to provide the intended benefits to the students. Improper maintenance of cash books The scrutiny has revealed that cash books were not signed by the concerned superintendents at the time of daily closing. Cash book of the current account for the period of 2012-13 was not totalled, balanced and closed monthly. As per the cash book, expenditure in March 2014 is stated to be Rs 34,75,69,032, whereas as per a bank statement, the overall expenditure is listed as Rs 30,80,32,059. As per the audit reports, challans amounting to Rs 1.94 crore have also not been cleared up to March 31, 2014. Non-adjustment of advances Due to non-adjustment of advances for various departmental and official purposes, Panjab University has also suffered losses to the tune of Rs 13.39 crore, the audit report has stated. As per provisions of the Account Manual 2012 of the university, all advances have to be settled before the end of March 31 every year. The Accounts Manual further states that in case of non-submission of the adjustment voucher within the stipulated period, an interest at the rate of 13.5 per cent per annum must be charged from the concerned official from the date of withdrawal of the advance, up to the date of deposit of the same. During the test check of records in the audit, 381 advances to the tune of Rs 13.39 crore issued up to March 31, 2014, were found pending adjustment. As many as 50 advances are from the G&P section - UGC Grants, 202 are under the G&P section of other grants, and 104 advances are of the E&P section. Scrutiny of the Advances Registers has also revealed that some advances were more than three decades old. Records of the Sports Department alone for the year 2013-14 have revealed 25 unadjusted advances involving an amount of Rs 96,39,728. With respect to temporary advances given to persons who have retired from active services, an amount of Rs 1.79 lakh has not been adjusted by the university. ‘Replies submitted for almost all outstanding paras’ Responding to the delay in furnishing replies to the objections raised in the audit, PU authorities said, “A total of 13 old paras were settled/deleted and 16 new paras have been issued. The university has already submitted appropriate replies for each of the old outstanding paras (except in four-five cases) which are under the consideration of audit. The final reply of the audit is awaited, which usually comes during the subsequent visit which is scheduled in the month of February/March of 2016.” The authorities further stated that with respect to the current audit, paras as communicated in the latest report of the audit, all departments had been instructed to submit suitable replies so that such paras might be settled by the audit during their expected visit next year.
