Gujarat University has ordered an investigation into allegations of financial irregularities in the disposal of campus waste after the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) claimed that the university may have suffered losses of ₹2.5 crore to ₹3 crore over the past five to six years.
The allegations concern payments made to Dhruv Corporation for transporting waste from the university campus to the Pirana dumping site. According to the claims reported by Gujarat Samachar, the agency was paid around ₹8,000 per dumper without an open tender process. The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation’s comparable waste-transport cost was cited as ₹2,000 to ₹2,500 per dumper.
NSUI alleged that the university was paying between ₹48 lakh and ₹58 lakh annually to the private agency. The student organisation said the payments were made despite an existing annual contract of ₹22 lakh with a company identified as Sun for campus cleaning. It alleged that the additional waste transportation arrangement resulted in financial losses to the university over several years.
The student organisation also claimed that ₹12 lakh in pending payments were hurriedly approved after it announced a protest. It has sought the immediate blacklisting of the agency and the filing of a financial-misappropriation complaint against officials and others found responsible.
Gujarat University’s in-charge vice-chancellor said the administration had received a representation alleging that payments were made outside established rules to the agency transporting waste from the university’s 300- to 350-acre campus. The official said that, under the university’s rules, expenditure above ₹10 lakh requires a tender process.
The vice-chancellor has directed the Estate Department to conduct a fact-based inquiry into the payments and procurement process. The investigation is expected to be completed within two to three days or, at the latest, within a week, according to the university’s statement reported by Gujarat Samachar.
The university will also obtain information about the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation’s waste-transport rates and examine whether the work can be carried out through the civic body instead. The vice-chancellor said that strict action would be taken according to the rules if the allegations are established.
The inquiry will need to establish the total quantity of waste transported, the number of dumpers used, the approvals supporting the payments, the applicability of tender rules and the basis for the difference between the university’s reported rate and AMC’s cited cost. No finding of wrongdoing has been established at this stage; the allegations remain subject to the university’s investigation.
