Naga Varsity VC Charged With Corruption

Kohima, Oct 13 : The agitating teachers of Nagaland University have charged the vice-chancellor and some officials of the university with largescale corruption and dissatisfied with CBI findings, have sought a fresh probe into financial anomalies.

The Nagaland University Teachers’ Association is preparing to move court to address their grievances.

After filing an RTI inquiry, the association found that vice-chancellor professor K. Kannan has 180 fixed deposits in various banks in Kohima.

He has been accused of flouting the university’s norms, rampant misappropriation of money, appointment of unqualified teachers, irregularities in examination and sexual harassment.

Kannan, who will complete his five-year term next June, has been accused of being most corrupt person who had destroyed Nagaland University, sources said.

The fact-finding committee of the ministry of human resource development has implicated some of the officials of the university who were given a clean chit by the CBI.

The teachers, students and staff of the university have filed several complaints against the incumbent vice-chancellor.

A seven-member team of the teachers’ association met CBI director Ashini Kumar. “The director was also unhappy with the way the officials in Calcutta had conducted an investigation,” said Rosemary Dzuvichu, the president of the Central Executive Council of NUTA.

Demanding a fresh probe, the association decided to file a case against the vice-chancellor in court.

The state government has also constituted a cabinet sub-committee headed by planning minister T.R. Zeliang. The Naga People’s Front (NPF) has also submitted its own findings to the state government.

The association said some state politicians have been lobbying for the vice-chancellor just for monetary gain. Despite a hue and cry from the teachers and the staff of the university, Kannan has not called for a university court meeting where they discuss the utilisation of funds.

The ministry of human resource development has assured the teachers of a fresh CBI probe into the irregularities. The association has also written to President Pratibha Patil about the irregularities committed by the CBI by availing of the hospitality of the vice-chancellor under investigation and demanded a fresh probe.