Vyapam case: Rs.4 crore irregularity in forms sale

There were financial irregularities of more than Rs.4 crore just in the sale of application forms and examination fees in conducting 14 entrance examinations by Vyapam in 2006-07, an RTI query has revealed.

The application forms were sold from Vyapam's cash counters, nationalised banks and authorised institutes.

The RTI reply received by Ajay Dubey in March from the Directorate of Local Fund Audit (LFA) revealed that there was a difference of Rs.4,09,20,762 in Vyapam's account, in the number of applications sold and the number for which record was maintained.

The reply also gave an example how the financial irregularities took place.

"If for MCA examinations in the state, 187 application forms were sold and out of which 49 were received by the department, then the income generated from only the forms which were received were recorded," the reply said.

In their audit report dated November 13, 2007, the LFA said it sought information like total number of application forms printed, number of forms sold, income generated (from banks and the cash book) from the store section of Vyapam.

When the store section failed to give the information, the LFA generated all the data from the examination section of Vyapam.

The CBI has already registered 17 FIRs and launched 10 preliminary inquiries into the scam in the Vyavsayik Pariksha Mandal (Vyapam) -- or the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board (MPPEB).

According to reports, the admission and recruitment scam involving politicians, senior officials and businessmen in Madhya Pradesh could be pegged at Rs.20,000 crore involving about 30,000 people. Forty-five people allegedly associated with the Vyapam scam have died under mysterious circumstances.