Appoint vigilance officers: MHRD to TN

Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD) had recently brought reforms to appoint vigilance officers in all universities and colleges to monitor issues including malpractices and corruption effectively.

A senior official from Higher Education Department told DT Next that the vigilance officer would maintain proper surveillance on all activities of doubtful integrity. Stating that the officer would also monitor the assets of the institution, the official said that he would also conduct surprise inspections and proper scrutiny of the faculties. “The officer would take preventive measures for bringing transparency in allocation and disbursement of grants,” he said adding, “the officer will monitor sexual harassment at campus.”

The Higher Education Department official pointed out that the nominees sent by the universities should not have any disciplinary proceedings or chargesheet pending as on date. “The institution should also give information whether any allegation of misconduct was examined against the nominees during the last 10 years,” he added. While there was no response from institutions with regard to the appointment of vigilance officer, the official said that the heads of the institutions has been requested to send the nominations of three persons of sufficient seniority.

Stating that the nomination list would be sent to MHRD, the official said that after the approval, the respective institution would appoint an officer from nominees’ list for a period of 3 years and would furnish information to the government.