Routine work as overtime, missing bills—Tk 33 crore irregularities in DU IBA

In the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) of Dhaka University (DU), instances have occurred where routine work of employees was shown as "overload" to take extra money. Not only that, although money was spent multiple times in the name of lift repair and decoration, instances of bills disappearing have also occurred. Due to these irregularities, there has been an irregularity or financial loss of Tk 33 crore 57 lakh 77 thousand 302 for the university.

Recently, the Education Audit Directorate completed the audit activities of DU for the 2023-2024 fiscal year. The audit identified multiple irregularities including lift and building repairs using staged quotations, distribution of money in the name of overload courses, not showing income stored in banks in the budget, not depositing overhead charges, and procurement-related issues.

When asked about these financial irregularities, IBA Director of DU, Professor Shakil Huda, told The Daily Campus, “I was not in IBA during the time the audit objections were raised. Consequently, I cannot say how the irregularities were organized. However, since the audit objection has come, we have given our response. After receiving our response, whether the audit objection will be settled or not, the Audit Directorate can say better.”

When asked, the Director General of the Education Audit Directorate, Md. Kamrul Alam, told The Daily Campus, “Work is ongoing regarding the audit objections of Dhaka University. Until the entire work is completed, it would not be right to comment on this matter.”

The audit report of the Education Audit Directorate stated that for routine academic work like question paper preparation, invigilation, and evaluation of answer scripts for IBA's BBA and MBA programs, honorariums of Tk 22 lakh 80 thousand 787 were given without any approved policy. Yet, taking classes, conducting exams, preparing question papers, and evaluating answer scripts are included in the regular duties of teachers. According to General Financial Rules (GFR)-10 and 11, there is an obligation to follow financial discipline and frugality in spending government funds, but the audit mentioned that this was not followed.

In the MBA and BBA Spring, Fall, and Semester courses of IBA, regular teachers took honorariums at the rate of Tk 1 lakh 11 thousand 111 per course in the name of taking overload courses. A total of Tk 34 lakh 7 thousand 775 was spent in this sector. The audit shows that despite being regular teachers, no documents were presented on what policy or criteria were used to determine overload courses. According to GFR, this was mentioned as unnecessary extra expenditure.

The audit shows that for installing a new lift in the IBA building, orders were given in fragments to the same contractor using the RFQ (Request for Quotation) method, showing an expenditure of Tk 18 lakh 71 thousand 703. Although information was found on bill payments in multiple steps for lift installation from the funds of MBA and BBA programs, the bills for the first and fourth steps were not shown to the audit. Consequently, no reliable account of how much money was spent in total for lift installation was found. The audit report stated that for installing a new lift, following the Open Tender Method (OTM) was mandatory, not RFQ.

Information on irregularities in the roof repair work of the IBA building also emerged in the audit report. Using the RFQ method multiple times for the same contractor, an expenditure of Tk 14 lakh 96 thousand 100 was shown. Although work was shown in six steps, no bills or vouchers were found for three steps. Besides, no specifications of the work, official estimated cost, or engineering approval documents were supplied to the audit. According to PPA-2006 and PPR-2008, these were mandatory, but it was mentioned that they were not followed.

The largest irregularity was identified as IBA not displaying money stored in banks in the budget. The audit shows that a total of Tk 26 crore 15 lakh 57 thousand 968, combining 15 FDRs kept in various banks of IBA and bank closing balances, was not shown as income in the university's annual budget. According to the 2024 circular of the University Grants Commission of Bangladesh, there is an obligation to include all income of the university in the central budget, but IBA did not follow it.

Additionally, although there was an income of Tk 18 crore 75 lakh 79 thousand 29 from IBA Recruitment Test and Project and other activities in the 2023-24 fiscal year, the prescribed 30 percent overhead charge on it was not deposited into the university's central fund. This resulted in a financial loss of Tk 5 crore 62 lakh 73 thousand 708 for the university. The audit report stated that this is a violation of the decision of the university syndicate meeting and the UGC's instructions on budget usage.

Another procurement irregularity in the audit report shows that IBA spent an extra Tk 54 lakh 89 thousand 251 using the quotation (RFQ) method, exceeding the prescribed annual limit. According to the Ministry of Finance's instructions, although a maximum of Tk 30 lakh can be spent per year in this method, IBA spent about Tk 85 lakh.

The audit further mentioned that no stock register, deadstock register, or fixed asset register was maintained for the laptops and furniture purchased in IBA. No stock entry or usage information was found for the 18 laptops bought for 18 teachers. In this, a liability for financial loss of Tk 34 lakh 10 was determined.

The Education Audit Directorate stated that financial discipline has been undermined in IBA through continuous violation of GFR, PPA, and PPR. The audit report recommended taking necessary administrative action against the concerned responsible officials and department heads.

Regarding the overall matter, when a call was made to the mobile phone of the University Treasurer Professor M. Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, he asked for a written application. When asked for the reason for a written application to know the statement, he said, “I am not the spokesperson. The Pro-VC (Administration) of the university has been given the responsibility to talk to journalists. He will talk to you.”

When a call was made to the mobile phone used by DU Pro-VC (Administration) Professor Dr. Sayma Haque Bidisha to know her statement on this matter, she did not receive it.