AICTE chief’s home raided, member secy held

CBI sleuths swooped down on the top brass of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) after allegations that they were demanding bribe to give recognition to institutes. AICTE member secretary K Narayana Rao was arrested on Thursday for trying to extract over Rs5 lakh for giving recognition to an engineering college.

The CBI sleuths also raided the house of AICTE chairman RA Yadav. The chairman was being questioned for having sought a bribe to give recognition to an engineering college in Faridabad, close to New Delhi.

Investigation agency sources said Rs9 lakh was recovered from Narayana Rao’s house. Rao had reportedly sought Rs5 lakh as first instalment and wanted more money for giving permit.

“We recovered Rs9 lakh from the house of the member secretary. Another Rs8.5 lakh was in his bank account. He has been arrested,” said an officer. Another person, SB Subba Rao, was arrested with Narayana for conniving and accepting money.

Other senior officers being questioned by CBI on corruption charges include adviser to AICTE HC Rai, deputy director Ravindra Randhawa and regional officer Om Dalal. “We have registered a case against them and searches are going on in their houses,” the officer said.

Incidentally, both the Yashpal Committee and the National Knowledge Commission (NKC) had recommended scrapping of organisations like AICTE and Medical Council of India (MCI) and bringing them under an over-arching higher education council.

The the All India Council for Technical Education is responsible for giving accreditation to institutes, both government and private, for running technical courses in management, engineering, pharmacy, hotel management and catering technology, architecture, BEd and opening polytechnics.