Mastermind Classes (MMC),a private institute entrusted to materialise Haryana governments ambitious scheme to impart coaching to SC students seeking to appear in All Indian Engineering Entrance Test (AIEEE) and Diploma Entrance Test (DET),was paid huge amount by the government based on fudged number of students. This,according to a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report submitted to the government on March 4 which pointed out serious discrepancies not only in payments but also observed that the authorities doled out the contract by violating all set norms. The contract was given to the Chandigarh-based institute despite the fact that it failed to fulfill the conditions laid down for it. The CAG,sources said,has alleged that though the number of students varied,the department paid the institute without verifying facts. Focused crash course of one month started in April 2008. As per the registration figures supplied by the institute on March 27,2008,1,128 students registered themselves for AIEEE coaching and 2,144 for DET. All were supposed to appear in the examination. While claiming 25 per cent payment as per agreement,the institute registered 1,149 students for AIEEE and 3,894 for DET, the report stated. However,a close scrutiny of the records revealed that in every bill submitted by MMC,the number of students varied. Finally,the department entertained the claim of 1,126 students for AIEEE and 7,829 for DET and worked out payment of Rs 1.84 crore,against which Rs 1.70 crore was paid. The department did not bother to inquire about the varied number, said the report. However,it did not end here. The final bill submitted by MMC provided the results of 2,831 DET for 664 AIEEE students. The department,instead of making payment on the basis of the result,made payments on the basis of registration. The total amount of Rs 52.53 lakh paid to the institute had no justification. It carried on for three years and the figure varied every time, observed the CAG. It added that even while allotting work to MMC,the Haryana government was at fault. The government required from the bidders a three years of experience,balancesheets depicting annual turnover and experienced faculty. However,in case of the first invoice submitted by MMC to the government on March 31,2008 for payment,it mentioned that it has applied for service tax account number - clearly indicating that the company was new. The turnover quoted by MMC was of its headquarters in Gwalior,to which the Chandigarh chapter was a franchise. The record also did not prove that it had experienced and qualified faculty. Had the franchise been providing coaching earlier,it would have obtained service tax number earlier,as it is mandatory to have service tax number for the companies that exceeded annual taxable service over Rs 10 lakh, observed CAG,sources said. Moreover,MMCs contract was revised to three years in June,2008 within three months of the initial agreement,without assessing the performance of the first course. Besides,the first agreement of March 2008 and then in June did not contain any penal clause in case of violation of terms and conditions of the agreement. The CAG has also slammed MMC for misusing the official infrastructure for its own purpose. Under the provisions of the agreement,the institute was to establish their own coaching centres but instead,they used the official infrastructure available in various school. The advertisement published by the department was used as tool to obtain infrastructure of government schools. The practice adopted by the service provider had resulted in undue benefit to the institute and loss to the government, said CAG. The government later it discontinued the scheme and initiated legal action against MMC. A recovery notice was sent to it in November,2012,but not before incurring huge losses. The CAG report stated: The service provider ultimately left the course in between. As such the entire expenditure of Rs 3.21 crore was rendered wasteful. The,state authorities,during the exit interview with the auditors,had said: Detailed investigation is being held. The course was discontinued as the same was considered necessary in view of availability of large number of seats even without qualifying the DET.
