The University Grants Commission (UGC) provides financial assistance to eligible colleges which are included under Section 2(f) and declared fit to receive central assistance (UGC grant) under Section 12 (B) of the UGC Act, 1956 as per the approved pattern of assistance under various schemes.
In a second appeal hearing on Thursday, state information commissioner of Nagpur division, Rahul Pandey, ordered that since UGC disburses funds to aided colleges from public funds, it is mandatory for educational institutions which are receiving this bonanza to “voluntarily disclose these details on their registered website under Section 4(1) of the Right to Information Act.”
Mr Pandey, elaborating on the details of the information to be disseminated, has included public money which has been disbursed for the furtherance of academic excellence, holding of national seminars, undertaking research projects, or creation of infrastructure including a sports complex, research units, or library for imparting quality education to students and to ensure their fulsome growth.
Considering the vast areas where the UGC assists aided colleges, Mr Pandey ordered that “There is no legal bar to disclose details about the amount received along with the purpose and audited utilisation certificates submitted to UGC since they are public documents and part of information as defined under section 2(f) of the RTI Act.”
The second appeal was filed by RTI applicant Vijay Rathi, who sought information from two Wardha-based colleges - GS College of Commerce and Bajaj College of Science, Wardha – on details of financial assistance received from UGC, along with utilisation certificate and vouchers to support the claim. However, the public information officers (PIOs) denied the information. The reason they gave was that no public interest is involved and that the college routinely receives UGC grants under various heads and audited utilisation certificates of the same are sent to UGC after grants are utilised for the purpose they have been received.
The first appellate authority, while rejecting the first appeal, also upheld the contention that Mr Rathi had no locus standi to check whether the grants have been properly given by UGC as per rules and had failed to establish any bonafide public interest for the disclosure of information.
During the hearing, Mr Pandey reiterated that all funds and financial aid received by aided colleges from UGC must be disclosed suo-motu under Section 4 of the RTI Act. The details to be uploaded in the public domain should include all expenditures of all financial aid including the actual utilisation of the same. He remarked that “this will make all aided colleges, which receive funds from the state and also UGC, more accountable and there will be a public check on the spending of public money.”
Mr Pandey has further directed the UGC to consider the “incorporation of such disclosure in its scheme to ensure better transparency in the actual utilisation of funds for the given purpose.” Besides, the principal secretary of higher and technical education, director of higher and technical education, and registrars of all universities within Maharashtra have also been informed to enforce these directions without any delay. Besides, the UGC itself has been mandated to ensure whether the grants are given as per rules and whether the grantee college has used them properly or not.
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Vinita Deshmukh is consulting editor of Moneylife. She is also the convener of the Pune Metro Jagruti Abhiyaan. She is the recipient of prestigious awards like the Statesman Award for Rural Reporting, which she won twice in 1998 and 2005 and the Chameli Devi Jain Award for outstanding media person for her investigation series on Dow Chemicals. She co-authored the book “To The Last Bullet - The Inspiring Story of A Braveheart - Ashok Kamte” with Vinita Kamte and is the author of “The Mighty Fall”.)
