VARANASI: IIT (BHU) put its administrative and financial delegation rules into force with immediate effect on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, setting out who can approve spending and related decisions at its Varanasi campus in the BHU university area. The Registrar's circular covers departments, schools, centres and administrative units, with provisions affecting student refunds, scholarship matters, research projects and routine institutional payments.

For students, the schedule identifies the Registrar as the authority for caution money refunds and withdrawal of fees under the institute's existing norms. It assigns the Dean of Academic Affairs authority over thesis, books and contingency grants for students, and extension of M.S. and Ph.D. scholarships. Students checking a pending request should identify its category before following up with the relevant office.

Faculty members, project teams and administrative staff need approval from the competent authority before incurring expenditure or creating a financial liability. The rules also prohibit splitting proposals to avoid approval at a higher level. Anyone preparing a request should check both the applicable delegation and the availability of funds under the relevant budget head.

What the November 3 circular changes

The institute's dated news listing links to the Registrar's circular and delegation schedule. The circular supersedes the July 11, 2019 notice and its subsequent amendments. It cites Finance Committee resolution 23.3 and Board of Governors resolution 25.3, both dated September 29, 2026, as the basis for issuing the approved framework.

The November circular is therefore the new instruction to act on the approved rules. Its circulation list reaches beyond the accounts office: recipients include deans, heads of departments, school and centre coordinators, the main workshop and library, placement and instrumentation functions, the Council of Wardens, the works department, the Gymkhana, the guest accommodation centre and the Chief Proctor.

The accompanying general principles make expenditure conditional on available budget provision, funds or grants under the relevant head. Where sanction is needed before funds actually arrive, the sanction order must expressly state that expenditure depends on receipt or disbursement of those funds. Approval alone does not remove that condition.

Unless specifically renewed, a sanction lapses after 12 months from issue, subject to any earlier validity limit written into it and closure of the relevant financial year where the expenditure is linked to that year. Staff processing an older approval should therefore check the sanction's own terms and the financial year involved before relying on it.

What students and staff should do

The schedule separates approval of a financial matter from drawing, checking and disbursing bills, and from signing cheques or bank advice. For monthly stipends, it refers to the expenditure sanctioning authority and the authorised payment signatories. A scholarship related approval and the subsequent payment stage are thus treated as distinct responsibilities in the document.

Student travel within India from departmental travel funds is assigned to the relevant head of department, head of school or coordinator under the applicable rules. The schedule also places student conference travel and other special cases under the concerned departmental or school authority, while separately identifying approval routes for research funded travel. A student should check which funding arrangement applies to the proposed journey.

Travel associated with external examiners, Ph.D. viva examinations, the quality improvement programme and Ph.D. thesis evaluation is assigned to the Dean of Academic Affairs. Faculty travel within India, including arrangements for guest speakers and honoraria, is listed under the Dean of Faculty Affairs. These entries help distinguish an academic examination expense from a faculty or student travel request.

  • Caution money or fee refund: Registrar, following existing institute norms.
  • Student thesis, books and contingency grants: Dean of Academic Affairs.
  • M.S. and Ph.D. scholarship extension: Dean of Academic Affairs.
  • Department funded student travel within India: concerned department or school authority.
  • Spending proposals: prior sanction and available funds are required.

The framework does not make delegated powers transferable at an official's discretion. Further delegation is barred unless specifically authorised. The competent authority can grant additional powers, withdraw powers, restrict them or attach conditions. Unless a specific provision says otherwise, the delegation operates on a per occasion basis.

Research administration and checks on spending

The document also expands the research and development unit's administrative remit to continuing education programmes, short courses, conferences and seminars, alongside corporate social responsibility projects, international relations and outreach. It records the decision to rename the unit Research, Innovation and Strategic Engagement, or RISE, to reflect that wider remit.

Procurement remains subject to the institute's purchase manual as amended from time to time. Officials exercising delegated powers must follow the institute's Act and Statutes, government rules, General Financial Rules and institutional procedures. Where the delegation framework conflicts with prevailing law or original statutory instructions, those higher requirements prevail. The principles expressly require financial propriety, transparency, accountability, economy and fairness.

Related campus reporting covers the postgraduate grievance committee, the equal opportunity cell and the institute's rural science programme at Tikary. The November 3 circular is a separate administrative development governing approvals and financial responsibility.