Barkatullah University in Bhopal has ordered an investigation after an RTI response reportedly showed that attendance records were not maintained for teaching staff and officials over a 35-year period, even as salaries were paid between 1988 and 2023.
The disclosure, cited by alumnus and RTI applicant Dharmendra Singh, raises questions about how the university verified attendance, approved salary bills and monitored employee obligations during the period. Singh’s account puts the total salary disbursement at around Rs 275 crore, while another reference in the supplied report cites approximately Rs 250 crore. The figures will require reconciliation during the inquiry.
Registrar SB Singh said the matter would be investigated despite predating his tenure. “It is an extremely serious matter, and I want to make clear that I will not treat it lightly,” he said, adding that the university would conduct a “thorough, impartial, and transparent investigation” into the issue.
Singh said all relevant records, facts and testimonies would be examined and responsibility fixed wherever established lapses are found. The registrar said the university’s priority was to protect the interests and trust of students, staff and the wider university community.
The RTI applicant has sought answers on who certified the salary bills and what documents supported those certifications. The inquiry would need to establish whether teaching schedules, classroom engagement records, leave applications, departmental reports or other alternative documents existed even though formal attendance registers were not maintained.
The absence of an attendance register does not by itself establish unauthorised payments or financial wrongdoing. That determination would depend on the service rules applicable at the time, the records available to approving officials and evidence of any specific breach. The investigation will also need to identify the officials responsible for checking and authorising salary claims over successive administrations.
The university reportedly introduced attendance tracking last year. That system may address current monitoring, but it cannot independently establish how earlier salary payments were verified. The records from the relevant period, including salary authorisations, leave documentation and departmental files, will be central to determining whether an administrative lapse occurred and whether responsibility can be fixed.
Barkatullah University was established in 1970 as Bhopal University and renamed in 1988 after Prof Barkatullah, a freedom fighter from Bhopal. It serves eight districts of Madhya Pradesh and operates across a campus of about 400 acres. The university has expanded from five teaching faculty members and five departments in 1988, according to the supplied account, and currently has 40 faculty members, 20 departments, 21 contractual teachers and 250 guest lecturers.
The institution received an A grade from the National Assessment and Accreditation Council in 2025 and has affiliated institutions including an engineering college, colleges of education, a technical teachers’ training institute and medical colleges. The registrar’s probe is expected to examine the records and determine whether any lapses occurred in the approval of salary payments.
