According to a CAG report, entrance tests Conveners in AP had spent much money to buy cars, mobile phones, iPads and gifts from exam funds than to hold exams.
The purchases were made despite a ban. The report said conveners of Eamcet 2010-12, Ecet, 2010-12, Pgecet 2010 and Icet 2012 had spent Rs 20 lakh to buy the gifts.
In the 2010-13 period, they spent Rs 16.89 lakh to hold exams. It said the conveners retained the unspent balance with themselves without remitting it to the AP Council for Higher Education. This was fraught with risks of misutilisation of funds, the CAG said. “Conveners misused funds citing confidentiality. Even if there are only 10 or 15 question papers to be printed for some part of an exam, they spent lakhs,” a senior APSCHE official said.
The CAG report also found that the government was losing Rs 2.66 crore annually by contracting private printers to print textbooks instead of using its own press. About 97 per cent of textbooks last year were printed by private printers.