Only three of 17 private universities in HP are NAAC accredited: CAG

AUDIT Fees proposed by private universities was approved by the state government without considering cost elements

SHIMLA : Only three private universities of the total 17 in Himachal Pradesh have obtained accreditation from the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) till March 2013, revealed the Comptroller and auditor general of India (CAG) report.

The government auditor also pointed out that there is a need for assessment of private universities as ten of the 17 varsities were established in just Solan district.

However, among these ten universities, four are established in one of its panchayats.

The CAG report, tabled in the state assembly on Thursday, further revealed that the state had not prescribed any objective criteria or norms for assessing the financial soundness, expertise and potentiality of the courses proposed by the sponsoring bodies leading to arbitrary and non-transparent decisionmaking.

The fees proposed by private universities had been approved by the state government without considering cost elements; three test-checked private universities had increased fees by 21%, 23% and 58% for the academic session 2017-18 as compared to 2016-17 session without justification, the report says.

15 private universities were functioning in the state with faculty not possessing minimum qualifications especially at the professor (22%) and associate professor (28%) levels, it added.

‘36% BORROWING GOES INTO DEBT SERVICING’

The share of market borrowings in the total public debt went up from 57% in 2012-13 to 59% in 2016-17. During 2016-17, 36% of borrowings were used for repayment of earlier debts defeating the very objectives for these loans, the government auditor said.

Fiscal liabilities at the end of the current year were ₹47,244-crore which includes ₹2,890.50-crore on account of UDAY scheme with growth of 15% over the previous year and stood at 38% of GSDP and 180% of the revenue receipts.

The share of market borrowings in the total public debt went up from 57% in 2012-13 to 59% in 2016-17, the auditor added.