So the West Bengal Education Department has finally issued a directive that seems long overdue . They're asking all state-run and aided colleges and universities to submit their audit reports within next 30 days.
And this is happening because of growing concerns about 'students' union fees' . Apparently,many institutions are collecting these fees from students even when there is no elected student union.
And honestly,this is where things get uncomfortable. If there is no union,where is this money even going ah? The department official said this issue has persisted for too long .
In fact,the official statement was very clear on this . "Currently,there is no elected student union in any higher educational institution in the state. Therefore,all state-run and state-aided colleges and universities have been instructed to immediately stop collecting 'student union fee',until time elected students’ unions are there."
This whole thing is about bringing some compliance and transparency into the system .
Authorities are also asking these colleges to give details on any funds they collected as 'students' union fees' during time when no elected unions were there . And they have to clarify how they spent all this money .
Few things standing out clearly here:
- Audit report submission is now mandatory within 30 days.
- Collection of union fees is banned without elected student unions.
- This investigation might uncover some serious financial irregularities from past .
And this whole audit is being seen as one step to unearth potential financial scams inside education sector . Especially after that whole multi-crore cash-for-school-job scandal during former Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress administration.
The current government,led by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP),has apparently prioritized these educational reforms . Just earlier this month,the state school education department also announced new rules for school governing body elections to stop political influence.
But now with this audit,so many questions are coming up . How much money was collected over years without any accountability? And will anyone actually be held responsible if something big comes out…
