Bhubaneswar: Odisha Department of Higher Education (DHE) has withheld the salaries of principals of 63 non-government-aided degree colleges across the state for failing to maintain college accounts in the mandated CAPA (College Accounts Portal Application) module.
The 63 colleges in question have not updated their college accounts in the CAPA portal despite repeated reminders.
Earlier, the DHE had instructed the colleges to update their accounts of FY 2024-25 in the portal. An official letter issued by the DHE and addressing the principals, read, “It is now decided that your salary for the month of January 2025 onwards is withheld until compliance by you.”
The formal letter further states that the principals failed to meet the deadline despite repeated reminders forcing the department to take the call to withhold their salaries for an indefinite period.
Jajpur district has the highest number of defaulters with 11 principals in the list while Cuttack and Balasore have four principals each.
It is worth mentioning here that the CAPA is a digital platform to streamline financial management and enhance transparency in higher education institutions. It has been implemented by Odisha as well as several other states in the country.
The portal facilitates online submission of college accounts enabling regulatory bodies to oversee financial transactions as well as to ensure compliance with government directives to improve efficiency, reduce paperwork, and promote accountability in the utilisation of funds allocated to colleges.
