CHENNAI: A non-resident Indian has taken the University of Madras and many students in the United Arab Emirates for a royal ride by allegedly siphoning off several lakh rupees collected as fees for courses offered through an overseas off-campus centre of the university’s Institute of Distance Education.

Officials of the university and the Indian consulate in Dubai are in touch to take legal action against Nandan Balakrishnan, a native of Kerala, and recover the money.

Balakrishnan had established the Campus Educational Institute in Karama, Dubai, through which the Institute of Distance Education was offering various academic programmes for the past five years. It is alleged that he did not remit fees to the tune of Rs 30 lakh to the university till date. Consequently, the university withheld the results of some students who had written examinations and also declined permission to some others to appear in the examinations.

“We learnt about the scam only when a girl whose result was withheld showed us the fee receipt, issued by the Dubai centre, during the monthly grievance redressal meeting here,” University of Madras vice-chancellor G Thiruvasagam told The Times of India on Monday.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/NRI-takes-Madras-university-for-a-ride/articleshow/6221587.cms