COLOMBO — Nearly Rs. 30 billion may be recoverable from university lecturers who breached contractual service bonds and agreements, Parliament’s Committee on Public Enterprises (COPE) has been informed.
The committee called for a systematic mechanism to recover outstanding funds from academics who failed to fulfil their contractual obligations, including lecturers who remained overseas.
COPE also urged authorities to examine similar cases across Sri Lanka’s state university system, warning that failures to recover public funds require coordinated action.
The disclosures emerged during a meeting held on November 4, chaired by Member of Parliament Dr Nishantha Samaraweera, to examine Eastern University of Sri Lanka’s 2023 and 2024 audit reports and current performance.
Although the Rs. 30 billion figure relates to the wider university system, the examination of Eastern University revealed additional financial, administrative and governance concerns requiring corrective action.
Eastern University’s Financial Oversight Under Scrutiny
Eastern University receives approximately Rs. 3 billion annually from the government. Nevertheless, COPE identified weaknesses in the institution’s financial oversight arrangements.
The committee noted that the university’s Audit and Management Committee lacked a Treasury representative and that vacancies remained within its Internal Audit Unit.
Concerns were also raised about a potential conflict of interest involving an officer directly engaged in financial activities who was serving as Chief Internal Auditor.
COPE examined allegations concerning academic qualifications, promotions and missing personnel records.
These included complaints from students and parents about conflicting qualification certificates, questions surrounding basic eligibility requirements and the disappearance of personal files belonging to officials concerned.
Findings from investigations conducted by the University Grants Commission (UGC) were also considered.
Samaraweera instructed university authorities to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the allegations and submit a report within three months.
Lecturer Overpayment and Procurement Irregularities
The committee reviewed audit observations concerning study leave and employment conditions.
One finding involved an error in calculating study leave granted to a lecturer who was still serving a probationary period.
COPE was also informed that a lecturer who resigned to contest an election and subsequently returned to university employment had received an excess payment of Rs. 3,633,900.
University authorities were directed to take immediate steps to recover the money.
Medical equipment procurement was another area of concern.
The committee examined findings that national procurement guidelines had not been followed during the purchasing process.
It was also informed that disciplinary action recommended by an investigative committee had not been implemented.
Rs. 99 Million in Salary Payments Questioned
Attendance management emerged as a significant issue during the examination.
COPE was informed that 38 members of the university’s support staff had bypassed the fingerprint-based attendance system and taken leave exceeding their annual entitlements.
The excess leave ranged from five to 83.5 days.
The committee was told that Rs. 99,181,457 in related salary payments had not been reconciled or recovered.
University authorities were instructed to introduce a transparent biometric attendance system covering both academic and non-academic employees.
The directive is intended to strengthen attendance monitoring and ensure that salary payments can be verified against employment records.
Missing Records and Outstanding Recoveries
COPE also examined money recoverable from retired employees, former staff members and personnel still serving at the university.
Committee members questioned explanations that missing financial records were attributable to the civil war, the 2004 tsunami and subsequent flooding.
Samaraweera expressed dissatisfaction with those explanations, stressing that public institutions must provide Parliament with accurate and accountable financial information.
The committee emphasised that historical difficulties in maintaining records do not remove the responsibility to account for public funds.
COPE Calls for Changes to Universities Act
The examination also highlighted the relationship between university autonomy and financial accountability.
COPE maintained that the independence of university governing councils should not be used to avoid administrative responsibilities or public financial controls.
Universities receiving government funding remain accountable for the management and expenditure of those resources.
The relevant Ministry Secretary was instructed to submit proposed amendments to the Universities Act, No. 16 of 1978, to Parliament without delay.
The amendments are intended to strengthen the University Grants Commission’s authority to intervene and make decisions when irregularities arise within university governing councils.
The committee’s directions now place responsibility on university authorities and the relevant Ministry to pursue outstanding recoveries, investigate the identified irregularities and report on corrective action.
The three-month deadline for Eastern University’s investigation will provide an important measure of whether those instructions are being implemented.
