Education Dept Refuses to Roll Back Decision to Hold Salary of VC, Pro-VC of Bihar Varsity

The Education Department in Bihar has refused to roll back the decision to hold the salary of the in-charge Vice-Chancellor and pro-VC of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar Bihar University (BRABU) in Muzaffarpur and freeze its bank accounts despite objection from Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar.

The Education Department has claimed that the state government supports all the universities with funds amounting to Rs 4,000 crore, and therefore the department has the right to seek accountability from the universities to know how and where the money of the taxpayers are spent.

A letter in this regard was issued from the office of Education Department Secretary Baidnath Prasad, dated August 21 (Letter No. 1785).

Governor Arlekar had turned down the Memo No. 1741 of the Education Department pertaining to Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar Bihar University (BBABU) on August 18, a day after the department had issued the stop payment notice.

The Education Department issued a Memo (No. 1741) with the signature of Additional Chief Secretary K.K. Pathak on August 17, freezing the bank accounts of the university.

Following the move of Pathak, the Principal Secretary to Governor, Robert L. Chonthu, cancelled the notification of the Education Department within 24 hours. The Bihar Governor, who happens to be the Chancellor of all state universities by virtue of his chair, felt that the move of the Education Department is in violation of the Governor's rights.

The university has three accounts in SBI, PNB and Central Bank of India in Muzaffarpur. A separate letter in this regard has been sent from the Raj Bhavan to the managers of the respective banks to allow transactions to take place.