Karnataka govt. released grants to engineering colleges of private universities in violation of rules: CAG report

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has flagged irregular release of government grants to two engineering colleges in Karnataka — B.V. Bhoomareddy College of Engineering and Technology (BVBCET), Hubballi, and Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering (SJCE), Mysuru — despite their affiliation to private universities.

According to the report tabled in the Legislative Assembly on Thursday, the State government released grant-in-aid amounting to ₹146.23 crore to these institutions, in violation of provisions of the respective university Acts. During 2019–23 alone, BVBCET and SJCE received ₹50.30 crore and ₹95.93 crore, respectively.

The grants were issued in contravention of Section 5 of the KLE Technological University Act, 2012, and the J.S.S. Science and Technology University Act, 2013, which mandate that private universities must be self-financing and are not entitled to State government aid. Despite this, the Commissioner of Collegiate and Technical Education continued to release funds periodically, the audit observed.

The audit found both colleges ineligible for such grants. In the case of BVBCET, the government initially stopped funding in March 2023, citing statutory provisions, but later issued an order in February 2024 allowing grants to continue until the 2022–23 batch completes its course and permitting retrenchment of aided staff by 2025–26.

For SJCE, Mysuru, directions were issued in November 2019 to continue grant support without specifying any timeline for phasing it out.

PhD-related irregularities

The CAG noted that the Higher Education Department failed to recover ₹5.72 crore paid as salaries to faculty deputed for pursuing PhDs between 2017 and 2020 in government engineering colleges and polytechnics. Of the 19 faculty members, 15 failed to complete their doctoral programmes, with delays of up to 33 months.

As per Rule 61(3) of the Karnataka Civil Services Rules, such salary payments during deputation should be recovered in case of non-completion. However, no recovery was made, the report stated.