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Prof. Sampath Amaratunga, Chairman, UGC, before COPE, in Parliament, recently (pic courtesy parliament)
University teachers who obtained leave for their postgraduate studies overseas but have not returned owe the government Rs 2 bn, the Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) has revealed.
The COPE recently raised this issue with the University Grants Commission (UGC) during a meeting held in Parliament.
A senior spokesperson for the COPE said that it was also disclosed that Rs. 2 bn had to be recovered from lecturers who went abroad for study purposes but not returned.
COPE members have pointed out that the UGC should take tangible action to recover this amount from the relevant guarantors.
Inquiries have revealed that only 84, of the 617 lecturers who went abroad, have made the relevant payments so far. Accordingly, the COPE asked UGC to inform Parliament of the measures taken in this regard, within a month
COPE has stressed that an efficient mechanism was needed to collect the due Rs. 2 billion in arrears from the lecturers who did not return to the country after going abroad for higher education on as much as seven-year leave.
(Prof.) Ranjith Bandara, chaired the meeting, in his capacity as the head of the parliamentary watchdog committee (SF)
