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Lawmakers seek inquiry on Sabaragamuwa uni’s alleged fraud, corruption and malpractices
Malpractices, allegations of fraud, and administration issues, including cases of ragging at the University of Sabaragamuwa, were exposed at the Committee of Public Enterprises (COPE) this week.
COPE recommended to the Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Training, Nalaka Kaluwewa, to appoint an independent committee to investigate the corruption and malpractices of Sabaragamuwa University.
A directive was also given to the Education Ministry Secretary to not include any current official in the inquiry committee.
During the COPE meeting presided over by Chairman Nishantha Samaraweera, issues of student admission, neglecting of responsibilities, corruption such as purchasing overpriced computers and obtaining old books, as well as permitting a provincial councillor to remove 500 cubes of soil, were discussed.
Legislators also gave special attention to the incident of ragging that led to the suicide of second-year student Charith Dilsahan recently.
One of the serious allegations taken up was about allowing a provincial councillor of Imbulpe to remove 500 cubes of soil from university premises for free in 2022.
According to Registrar S Uyangoda, the then-vice chancellor had recommended to the council to approve the request made by a councillor. Approval was given, yet it was not sent to the provincial council, as later he had felt that the council decision was wrong. It was revealed that university authorities had only complained to the police after 2024, although the security team had informed the university of the removal of soil from the premises by letter on October 20, 2022.
When student registration was discussed, it was revealed that around 7,000 are not being registered during the first intake, and vacancies are filled after several rounds.
The Auditor General had pointed out that the university playground and gym had cost more than Rs 123 million. But the ground retains water, the surface has hardened and a side retention wall has cracked. Even though COPE had recommended the side retention wall of the playground and gym be repaired and handed over to the university by the Central Engineering Consultancy Bureau, which had made repairs to the retention wall and gym, the playground was not maintained.
COPE Committee Chairman Samaraweera raised questions about not entrusting the responsibility of maintenance of the playground to specific persons. He asked why a permanent engineer was not appointed to supervise such a massive project and that a works engineer was appointed instead to carry out supervision. The questioning was based on findings the of the Auditor General’s Department.
The works engineer said Vice Chancellor M. Sunil Shantha had not given him the task of supervising the maintenance of the playground.
COPE members had also found out that the maintenance of the playground was earlier given to the cleaning section and recently handed over to the sports division.
There were also revelations that over Rs 2.6 million, which was not sought by the contractor who built a housing complex for university staff, had been given under the certification of the works engineer.
COPE also raised the ragging incident at the university which led to the death of the student.
Marshal Thikshana Dissanayake said the university administration did not inform him of the New Year celebration held on a Sunday.
The ragging incident had taken place the day before the incident.
The marshal had also said that approval for the New Year festival was granted outside of the proper procedure. Apart from that, the marshal had also informed the university administration in writing about situations that could arise within student hostels.
| Female student confronts wall of silence at uni | |
| By Kasun Warakapitiya A Sabaragamuwa University student who campaigned against ragging and was due to complete her studies by 2024 is still awaiting justice over an appeal she made that she repeatedly failed in one of the subjects due to victimisation. In her complaint she blamed a lecturer in the faculty of geomatics for repeatedly failing her and called on the university to carry out an inquiry. According to the victim’s letter to the vice chancellor, allegations were made that the professor had systematically failed her for the third consecutive time in the final examination of the third year second semester for the particular subject. The victim who claimed anonymity also remarked that she had been subjected to ragging since entering university on April 24, 2019, and added that as a result of her opposition to ragging, she was targeted by seniors and lecturers. She said that she was even denied the opportunity to participate in the second year’s first semester practical land surveying session in 2021, claiming that batchmates protested that she was not a hosteller and that she would spread Covid-19 as she travelled from home to the surveying field. She said the university then attempted to force her to reside in the hostel against her will. As the student did not get a positive response to complaints to the university, she had written to the University Grants Commission calling on it to act. Thereafter, the UGC Chairman, Senior Professor Kapila Seneviratne, had written to the vice chancellor of Sabaragamuwa University regarding the lack of any acknowledgement or response to the letter submitted to the university by the student. In the same letter the UGC had asked the VC to look into the relevant matters regarding the internal problems and resolve them as best as possible at the university level. In addition, the UGC had also asked the university to give a comprehensive report before April 30. When the Sunday Times asked UGC Chairman Seneviratne, he said he had a nine-hour meeting on Thursday and was unavailable to comment on an individual matter of a student. He asked us to either contact the academic affairs department or the Centre for Gender Equity and Equality. The Sunday Times learned that UGC’s academic affairs department had written to the vice chancellor as well as claimed that they had sent a reminder last week asking that a comprehensive report be filed before the June 12 deadline. The UGC Deputy Secretary H.D. Rasika Karunaratne, who is in charge of the academic affairs department, confirmed that the VC had not submitted a comprehensive report before April 30. Last week they issued a reminder letter calling on the university to submit the report before Thursday, June 12. Vice Chancellor Prof. M. Sunil Shantha said that he would ask the dean about the actions taken. The Geomatics Faculty Dean, Dr. H. Divithure, told the Sunday Times that he was only aware that an inquiry panel of three senate members had been appointed. He admitted that the comprehensive report was not sent to the UGC and further action would depend on the inquiry report. The Sunday Times contacted the professor named in the complaint of the student. She said “she had nothing to say” and asked that inquiries be made from the university and the examination department of the university. |
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