Row over non-submission of varsities' audit reports in House

Odisha Assembly Saturday was adjourned twice following noisy protests by the opposition Congress over non-submission of audit reports of universities in the House in the last 20 years.

Congress members trooped to the well of the House demanding a statement from the government on why audit reports were not being placed in the House since 2000 as per law.

Raising the issue, Congress Legislature Party leader Narasingha Mishra said Under the Odisha University Act, 1989, the annual audit reports of the universities have to be placed in the assembly every year.

"I wonder how the government is functioning in the state. During the past 20 years, not a single audit report has been placed before the Assembly," Mishra said.

It was the responsibility of the higher education department to facilitate annual audit of universities, both government and private varsities, and place the reports in the House, the Congress member said.

It is further "worrisome" if the annual audits are not conducted regularly, he said adding that the universities get land, power, water and other assistance from the state and therefore, they are "mandated to conduct annual audit".

He named 29 universities in the state including some private ones where annuaal audits were allegedly not conducted regularly.

As the ruckus continued, Speaker S N Patro called an all-party meeting to resolve the matter.

It was decided at the meeting that various departments under which the universities function will soon inform the government on the status of the annual audit in different universities, government chief whip Pramila Mallick said.