Daijiworld Media Network – Mangaluru/Udupi

Mangaluru/Udupi, Aug 7: The department of collegiate education has initiated steps to recover funds from colleges that failed to utilize the grants provided for NAAC and IQAC-related activities.

Among the defaulting institutions are Bantwal First Grade College, and Puttur First Grade College in Dakshina Kannada district and Muniyalu Government First Grade College in Karkala taluk of Udupi district. While Bantwal college utilized Rs 9,000 out of the allocated amount, it failed to use the remaining Rs 3,300. The other two colleges have not submitted any records indicating utilization of the grant.

The department had released approximately Rs 14,14,500 to 115 government degree colleges across the state, including three from the undivided Dakshina Kannada district, at the rate of Rs 12,300 per college.

Out of the total released grant, only Rs 1,44,480 has been used so far. A substantial amount of Rs 12,70,020 remains unused and is still lying in the principals’ accounts. While 23 colleges have used a portion of the grant, 92 colleges have either not used the funds or failed to submit utilization records.

The department has instructed all colleges to submit the utilization certificates by August 16. Despite prior instructions to furnish the details of fund usage, no response has been received from several institutions. The department has now warned that if the information is not submitted within the stipulated time, strict action will be taken against the concerned college principals and IQAC coordinators by holding them accountable.