Kolkata (IANS): The West Bengal Education Department on Tuesday directed all state-run and government-aided colleges and universities in the state to submit their audit reports within the next 30 days.

The authorities of such colleges and universities, which do not have an elected students' union, have been asked to immediately stop charging “students’ union fees” from students.

“Currently, there is no elected student union in any higher educational institution in the state. According to the rules, if there is no elected students’ union in any state-run or state-union college or university, no funds or fees can be collected from the students as the ‘student union fee’. But exactly this had been going on in all such colleges and universities for so long. Therefore, all state-run and state-aided colleges and universities have been instructed to immediately stop collecting 'student union fee', till the time elected students’ unions are there,” said a state education department official who refused to be named.

At the same time, he added, the authorities of such colleges and universities have been asked to mention in their respective audit reports the funds collected by them as “students' union fees” during the period when elected students’ unions were not there and under which title the funds were spent.

It is learnt that the state education department has also cautioned the authorities of such colleges and universities about disciplinary action as per rules, in case the audit reports are not submitted within 30 days.

Academic circles believe that once these audit reports are filed and, subsequently compiled, there is a possibility of unearthing a financial scam in the education system in the state, which was severely tarnished during the previous Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress regime following the multi-crore cash-for-school-job case.

Since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in West Bengal led by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari took charge, the focus has been on cleaning up the state's education system.

In the school education sector, similar reforms were initiated by the new state government earlier this month, when the state school education department announced new rules for elections of governing body members to free such bodies of political influence.

As per a blueprint worked out by the state school education department, all the governing body members will be inducted on an “election-basis” and not on a “selection-basis,” which was practised during the previous Trinamool Congress regime.

The only exception will be for the post of governing body secretary, who by default is the headmaster or headmistress of the school concerned.

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This report was published from a syndicated wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.