Strange but true:
The bank changes A/C holder’s name without the knowledge of the latter
Bhubaneswar: The Department of Computer Science of Utkal University has been running a seminar account with SBI’s university branch since 2007. This is where the students of the first semester deposit an amount of `10,000 each during admission. The account was meant to bear students’ expenses during the course that involves study tours, tech-fest, welcome of freshers and farewell of students. Currently, the account has `3lakh.
The account is owned and operated by two nominated representatives of students every year which is later authorised by the HOD. The ownership of the account gets transferred every year in February to the newly nominated representatives of the first year batch. The process involves departmental sealed approval, signatures of the old account holders and new representatives.
However, the basic banking protocol was recently breached as the account holder’s name was unilaterally changed without the knowledge of the previous holders. The security breach has shaken the trust of students which goes to prove the dominance of the administration on the students-funded account.
Branch Manager Sasmita Sahoo, when asked, was reluctant to talk to Orissa POST about the same. She said, “This is an internal matter that we are looking to sort it out within the students.”
The sudden change in account holders’ names happened in November and `1.02 lakh was withdrawn in three months. New account holders –Chandra Biswal and Swabhiman Sarangi— have not been nominated by the students. Sources said they were randomly picked by HOD BK Rath in October.
Ex-secretary of MECSE Sunil Ranjan said, “We have asked the bank to give us in writing why the holder’s name was changed arbitrarily before time and how `1.02 lakh was spent in three months. This is not just university politics but also a major breech in banking protocol. A bank cannot change an account holder’s name without the signature or approval of the previous holder. ”
