Govt, National Minorities Commission probe into alleged irregularities at MESCO

Hyderabad: Taking cognizance of alleged irregularities and malpractices in the Muslim educational social cultural organisation (MESCO), both the National Commission for Minorities and the Telangana Minorities department have written to various government departments and authorities seeking explanations.

On June 14, a letter was sent from the secretary of the Telangana Minorities Welfare Department to the state Health, Medical and Family Welfare department, Higher Education department and the School Education department. It referred to the complainant, one Abdul Samad. A copy of the same was also forwarded to the Director of the State Minorities Welfare department and other officials.

Similarly, June 30, Shariq Saeed, under secretary to the Government of India, the National Commission for Minorities, wrote to the Commissioner and Inspector General of the Stamps and Registration department highlighting the alleged irregularities and malpractices in MESCO. 

In the letter, Saeed requested to be sent a detailed report in the matter within 21 days, so that the matter could be placed before the commission for consideration. Earlier, a letter was reportedly written by Mesco Education Society member Syed Zakir Hussain, alleging that the MESCO College of Pharmacy was not paying its staff regularly. He also alleged that other irregularities were taking place and levelled other allegations against the management of the society. 

The leaked letter, a copy of which is with Siasat.com, mentioned that employees have many grievances and that the Pharmacy College staff and others were not paid the salaries even during Ramzan in the last four years.

The letter also spoke about allegations of misappropriation of funds, collection of the donation, diversion of funds, cheating, fraud, misrepresentation, irregularities using fictitious faculty, misleading Government agencies, courts, and others including members of the society. 

The staff member also said that because of this mismanagement, everyone is going through a very hard time and their families are suffering, especially due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.