Guwahati: Justice (retired) Aftab Hussain Saikia's one-member committee submitted their inquiry report on the Institute of Distance and Open Learning (IDOL) of Gauhati University scam. IDOL was offering 21 unapproved courses through the Open and Distance Learning mode from the year 2010-11 to 2016-17.
The panel headed by Justice (retired) Saikia was formed to investigate the abnormality of the distance learning institute, IDOL.
The report which was taken up at the executive council meeting of Guwahati University was reportedly accepted by them on Monday. The entire report was read out to the members of the executive council meeting. It has also been sent to the Governor of the State, Jagdish Mukhi, who also happens to the Chancellor of Gauhati University.
The anomalies regarding the institution's distance learning courses came out in a report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), which alleged that the university allowed 21 unapproved courses, which have kept the fate of more than 70,000 students hanging. An amount of Rs. 39.06 crore was collected as the fee from the students for these courses. The CAG report was tabled in the Legislative Assembly of Assam.
According to CAG, IDOL of GU was recognized by the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), with approval of the Distance Education Council (DEC) in August 2010 for offering eight courses for three years from 2010-11.
The VC of Gauhati University also formed a seven-member committee to review the report of CAG finding. But it is unknown if the committee has submitted their observation or not.
However, the courses were discontinued from August 2017.