Ahmedabad: A fresh controversy has emerged at Gujarat University over alleged irregular appointments of officials across various departments and exorbitant salaries granted to them. Student leaders have raised serious concerns and submitted a memorandum to the acting vice-chancellor, demanding the formation of a high-level committee to investigate the matter.During the tenure of a former vice-chancellor, four officials were appointed in the Gujarat University Startup and Entrepreneurship Council (GUSEC), incurring an annual expenditure of Rs 29.4 lakh initially. However, after subsequent appointments of allegedly close associates, the total annual salary burden reportedly surged to over Rs 1.05 crore. Notably, a chairperson-level appointee is said to be receiving a monthly salary of Rs 5 lakh, while a deputy-level official is paid around Rs 2.5 lakh per month.Despite previous controversies surrounding these appointments, no concrete action has been taken to remove the officials. Similar allegations extend to other departments, where retired personnel were appointed to key posts such as engineer, chief accountant, fire officer and legal officer. The university’s annual expenditure for these positions has reportedly increased from around Rs 8 lakh earlier to nearly Rs 46.5 lakh under the new appointment.Student leaders claim that these salaries exceed UGC norms and are even higher than those of senior state govt officials. They have also alleged that such appointments were made without approval from competent authorities.The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) has demanded immediate removal of all HoDs and a transparent probe into the matter. Adding to the controversy, concerns have also been raised over a single individual being assigned as director of multiple departments simultaneously, highlighting alleged violations of institutional norms and governance practices.
