VC of BGSBU says university has limited role in disbursement of scholarships

Excelsior Correspondent
RAJOURI, May 30: Seeking to down play the scholarship scam in Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University and registration of FIR in this connection, the Vice-Chancellor Prof Irshad Ahmed Hamal today claimed that the university has limited role in disbursement of scholarships.
“The University is only a facilitator. It receives payees Account cheques issued in the names of specific beneficiaries from Director, Tribal Affairs and Social Welfare Department and distributes them to students against receipt,” he said while addressing a press conference, here today.
However, he added, going by the media reports the University has constituted high-powered committee to audit the records and the discrepancy, if any, will be dealt in accordance with provisions of law.
Rejecting the media reports on alleged anarchy and favoritism in the university, Prof Hamal alleged that these reports were based on contorted facts, half-truths and deep prejudice. “The departure of few teachers of the University to join Universities of Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi and elsewhere where they belong, has been misinterpreted purposely to create the sensation that BGSBU is losing its sheen, which is far from truth. No reference has purposely been made to the academic credentials of the substitutes selected in place of those who left,” he said.
The VC also justified the substituting of a few lame-duck courses with more popular programmes and said that tailoring curriculum to market demand is emphasized day-in and day-out by policy makers.
Commenting on the appointment of superannuated teachers, the Vice Chancellor asserted that their engagement was not a matter of choice but one of compulsion, not only for this but other universities too. “The only Professor and three Associate Professors who comprise the Senior faculty of this University are neither enough nor sufficiently experienced to provide the leadership that the University requires to conceive and shape its academic odyssey,” he explained.
On the occasion, the Vice-Chancellor also highlighted the achievements made by the University during the past few years since he has been at the helm of affairs.