JNTU-K staff charge VC with fund misappropriation.

KAKINADA: Some professors and non-teaching staff have charged vice-chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University Kakinada Prof Allam Appa Rao with misappropriation of funds.

While the non-teaching staff submitted a written petition to governor E S L Narasimhan, the professors approached him urging not to give Prof Appa Rao another term, as he completed his present one recently.

Sources said while Prof Appa Rao is lobbying hard to become Andhra University VC, the government is likely to retain him as VC of JNTU-K for another term.

The non-teaching staff association, in their plea, demanded appointment of a committee to probe the irregularities committed during Prof Appa Rao’s tenure. They alleged that the VC swindled university funds and that there were several discrepancies in the audit.

They said he spent more than Rs 20 lakh in the name of planting trees and another Rs 10 lakh in the name of ‘Nakshatravanam’ project. They alleged that the cost of installing solar lights was shown at Rs 14.2 lakh, when in reality it was only Rs 3-4 lakh.

The professors said JNTU-K should have got Rs 52 crore towards affiliation fee from self-financing colleges. “Most of them have not paid the fee for more than a year, but no inquiry has been ordered,” one of them said. The examination system was also totally messed up, they added.

Denying the charges, university registrar V Ravinder said that they were made only to defame Prof Rao. “The university has seen a lot of development during Rao’s term as VC. Allegations are baseless,” he added.

Source : TOI