Odisha Government Orders Inquiry into BPUT Academic Audit Irregularities and Corruption Allegations

30 Apr 2026, 07:30 by Vinay Kakkad · KalingaTV

In response to growing concerns over academic integrity, the Odisha state government has officially ordered a probe into alleged irregularities surrounding the academic audit of engineering colleges under Biju Patnaik University of Technology (BPUT), Rourkela. The Skill Development and Technical Education department sent a formal demand to the BPUT registrar, asking for a full, factual report. This all started after representatives from 47 engineering colleges brought their concerns straight to Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi.

The core of the controversy lies in the university’s decision to utilize faculty members from private engineering colleges to conduct academic audits on their peers. The group representing these 47 colleges says that makes zero sense. In their words, the whole thing is “fundamentally flawed” and “deeply compromised” as reported by The New Indian Express. Handing audits to private faculty creates a huge conflict of interest. It’s easy for the system to slip into corruption instead of actually improving educational standards.

Then there’s the big accusation: a “pay-to-play” operation is running behind the scenes. According to the colleges, the audit isn’t about quality anymore—it’s about who pays more. Money changes hands through intermediaries, and auditors get their assignments based on the highest bidder. If this keeps going, the college association warns, the level of corruption and cash flowing to certain university officials will get way out of control.

To fix things, the colleges want the current audit model gone immediately. They’re pushing for a switch to a neutral system, where only professors from government institutions do the auditing. That’s the best shot at real transparency and accountability, in their opinion. Their main goal is to bring back a tough and honest audit process that actually helps colleges improve.

With the department’s directive, BPUT’s leadership now has to explain why they picked private faculty as auditors and respond to the serious bribery charges. Once the registrar sends the report, the state government plans to decide what happens next—possibly launching a bigger administrative investigation if the evidence calls for it.