Arts college employee suspended for embezzling ₹3.24 lakh

Secretary of technical education in an order (copy with HT) has suspended senior assistant Vinod Kumar of Government College of Art (GCA), Sector 10, for gross dereliction of duty on account of misappropriation of government funds and failing to maintain discipline while discharging office duties.

As per a memorandum sent earlier by the secretary to him, Kumar was charged with misappropriated government funds to the tune of ₹3.29 lakh which had been realised from the students as fees/funds of government receipt head, also known as the students fund account, of the college. This was done between the period starting from January 2022 to December 2022.

The college’s present cashier, Vikrant Rana, had alleged that upon joining as cashier in September 2022 he found that it was not clear whether the amount from 2019 to 2022 had been deposited and despite speaking to the previous cashier Kumar, no handing over of charge was done. He had written to the authorities that he should not be held responsible for any irregularities. After a letter was sent to Kumar, he had claimed that he was holding two additional charges besides some amount difference that occured in separate bank accounts. So, he said, the said amount would be deposited after proper calculation, which is why delay in handing over the charge occurred.

The drawing and disbursing officer of the college had also written a letter of warning to Kumar on September 15, 2023, a copy of which is with HT. It was pointed out that money received through banks was not deposited in the treasury on a daily basis. Prospectus money for the MFA course, which had been received in July 2023 had not been deposited till the time the letter was sent and other similar examples were cited, calling it a serious lapse.

After a meeting held with the college principal on April 24, 2024, the non clearance amount was calculated before proceeding for further action which came upto ₹3,29,899. As per officials familiar with the matter, this amount can increase further.

Interestingly, Kumar, who was a junior assistant at the time of the incident, was promoted to senior assistant in February 2024 despite the warning letters. He has now been placed under suspension under powers conferred by Sub Rule 1(a) of Rule 10 of the Central Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, 1965, as applicable to UT employees. He will be entitled for subsistence allowance as per the rules and he will now be posted in the office of secretary technical education.

This is not the first time that Kumar has been accused of misappropriating funds from the college. In 2015, he was chargesheeted for temporary embezzlement of ₹6.3 lakh realised from the students as fees/funds of government receipt head and PLA account of the Government College of Arts between 16 September 2013 to 10 September 2015. He was awarded the punishment of “removal of service” vide orders dated October 28, 2015, which was later reduced, by the then home secretary, to “stoppage of four increments with cumulative effect”, reinstating him on 8 August, 2017.