India, July 16 -- he West Bengal government has sought a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) audit of all 31 state-aided universities and 506 government and government-aided colleges to ensure transparency, accountability and proper utilisation of public funds. In a letter dated July 15 to the Principal Accountant General (Audit-I), West Bengal, the Higher Education Department requested that the audit be taken up on a priority basis. The letter, signed by Additional Chief Secretary Binod Kumar, said the department would extend full cooperation and direct all the institutions concerned to provide records, vouchers and other documents required by the audit teams. Also Read - ED raids in 4 states in terror funding, illegal infiltration case The proposed audit will examine the utilisation of state grants, salary and pension grants, centrally sponsored scheme funds, including Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) funds, internal receipts, fee collection and expenditure, compliance with the General Financial Rules (GFR) and West Bengal Financial Rules (WBFR), asset management, procurement procedures, and any other financial matters considered necessary. The department has also requested the Principal Accountant General to communicate a tentative audit schedule so that the universities and colleges can be informed in advance. Also Read - Congress MLA praises CM Pushkar Singh Dhami at Chamoli event, says no bias in development work The move comes a day after Higher Education Minister Jagannath Chattopadhyay said people should not be surprised if one or two university vice-chancellors ended up in jail, alleging that corruption had taken root in the state's higher education system during the previous government. He said the BJP government's first priority in the education sector was to establish a corruption-free and politically neutral education system, alleging that politics had been systematically introduced into the state's education system. "You have seen a former education minister go to jail. You have not seen a university vice-chancellor go to jail till now. If, in future, you see one or two university vice-chancellors in Presidency, Dum Dum or Alipore, there should be no reason to be surprised," Chattopadhyay said.

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