New Delhi, Nov. 20: Ignou had invited IBM to the signing ceremony for a pact with Bihar potentially benefiting the IT major without picking the firm through government tendering, IBM has said.

India’s largest open university invited IBM to accompany its vice-chancellor to the signing of a controversial Memorandum of Understanding with Bihar despite no formal agreement on the project, the company has told The Telegraph.

“IBM has no formal agreement with Ignou or the government of Bihar on this project. IBM attended the signing ceremony at the invitation of Ignou,” the company has said in response to queries from this newspaper.

The statement raises fresh questions on why the firm was invited for the signing ceremony of an agreement it was not a party to but from which it could potentially benefit.

The participation of a senior IBM representative at the signing ceremony is especially controversial because a proposal for the MoU discussed by the Ignou board of management lists the firm as a potential beneficiary.

The proposal discussed by the Ignou board on October 14 — the day the MoU was signed with Bihar — suggests that IBM may be assigned work as “a lead technology provider” on the project.

Government of India rules mandate that central universities — like all other government agencies — must pick private firms for specific planned projects only through a transparent tendering and bidding process.

The company’s statement — that it was invited to the signing ceremony without any formal agreement — comes at a time when the university faces allegations by faculty members of subverting government procedures.

University vice-chancellor V.N. Rajasekaran Pillai faces a probe ordered by the central vigilance commission over charges — based on the allegations — ranging from his mode of travel to the courses he has launched.

As reported by The Telegraph on November 6, Pillai faces vigilance queries — based on the allegations — for flying on a paid ticket with an IBM official on a chartered flight to Patna to sign the October 14 MoU with Bihar.

Neither Pillai nor IBM has denied the allegations that a country head of the IT firm escorted and flew with the vice-chancellor to Patna on a chartered flight.

IBM has, however, denied allegations that it paid for Pillai’s travel to Patna. Ignou sources have independently confirmed that neither Pillai nor the university paid for the flight.

The human resource development ministry has forwarded to Ignou complaints received by the Central Vigilance Commission on Pillai’s chartered flight travel, and other allegations, including a set of courses started allegedly illegally at the varsity.

The HRD ministry has asked the Pillai to respond to the queries by November 23, following which it may begin its own probe into the allegations, sources said.

In a “clarification” statement by Ignou, the university has itself claimed that the MoU and the project with the government of Bihar is completely transparent.

But the university has not explained why IBM was invited to attend the signing ceremony of an agreement it was not a party to, but which could potentially benefit the company.

IBM did not respond directly to questions on whether it regularly sends representatives to accompany government officials to signing ceremonies of pacts potentially benefiting the company — before an official tendering process.

“In the normal course of business, we interact with public and private sector leaders at a wide variety of forums to discuss IBM’s capabilities and value proposition,” the company said.