Allegations that Amartya Sen and Manmohan Singh’s daughters jointly misappropriated ₹2730 crore linked to Nalanda University are false
A social media post claims that during his tenure as Chancellor of Nalanda University, Amartya Sen misused ₹2730 crore of public funds and appointed Dr. Manmohan Singh’s daughters and close associates to key positions without merit. It further alleges that these appointees, including Singh’s daughters, received salaries without contributing to the university. Additionally, the post claims that the Modi government dismissed the committee responsible after coming to power. Let’s examine the truth behind these allegations.
Claim: Amartya Sen and the daughters of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh embezzled ₹2730 crore allocated by the Indian government to build Nalanda University. The Modi government, upon coming to power in 2014, dissolved the old committee due to this misuse.
Fact: Manmohan Singh’s daughters, Daman Singh and Upinder Singh, have categorically denied any association with Nalanda University, confirming that they never worked there or received any salary or benefits. During Amartya Sen’s tenure as Chancellor, up until February 2015, only ₹47.28 crore of the approved ₹2727.10 crore had been released by the government for the university. Furthermore, no official government statement links the restructuring of the Nalanda University committee in 2016 to corruption allegations against Amartya Sen. Therefore, the claim is FALSE.
In 2007, the UPA government, to revive the historic Nalanda University, established the Nalanda Mentors Group (NMG) with Professor Amartya Sen as its chairman. To support this initiative, the ‘Nalanda University Act, 2010’ was passed. In 2012, Amartya Sen was appointed as the university’s first Chancellor. After 800 years, Nalanda University was officially reopened in August 2014. However, following the formation of the Modi government in 2014, Sen resigned from his position as Chancellor in February 2015, citing government interference in university affairs. In 2016, he was excluded from the new governing body of the university proposed by then-President Pranab Mukherjee.
Regarding the allegations in the post, the Ministry of External Affairs, in April 2015, clarified in Parliament that only ₹47.28 crore had been released for the university’s reconstruction out of the ₹2727.10 crore approved by the government. Additionally, Nalanda University stated in 2015 that Amartya Sen had not drawn any salary during his tenure as Chancellor.
Addressing questions about the circumstances surrounding Amartya Sen’s departure from Nalanda University, Former Minister of State for External Affairs, Gen. VK Singh, clarified: “Prof. Amartya Sen was appointed as the first Chancellor of Nalanda University on July 18, 2012, for a tenure of three years. As his tenure neared completion, Prof. Sen publicly announced that he wished to exclude himself from consideration for an extension as Chancellor beyond July 2015.”
Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s daughters, Daman Singh and Upinder Singh, have denied allegations of any connection to Nalanda University. They stated that they had never worked at the university and had not received any remuneration. Amartya Sen has also refuted these claims. Additionally, there is no official statement from the government attributing the formation of a new committee in 2016 to allegations of corruption involving Amartya Sen.
To sum up, the allegations that Amartya Sen and Manmohan Singh’s daughters jointly misappropriated ₹2730 crore linked to Nalanda University are false.