Delhi: Slashed funds to 12 colleges stalling development, says DUTA

According to their principals, across all these colleges, the budget allocation for this financial year has been reduced on an average to 75% of the previous years, which they state, has made it difficult to make all payments due to the staff members.

DUTA president A K Bhagi in a statement said, “The Delhi Government must immediately release full funds and meet budget deficits in these colleges to pay pending and current salaries to teaching and other employees; reimbursement the medical bills and other allowances, including LTC; to pay the arrears of the 7th UGC Pay Package announced in 2017; to meet infrastructure requirements and manpower requirements to run the new academic programmes and courses which were introduced in some of these college; sanction the additional teaching posts and special grant to create additional infrastructure against the EWS reservations expansion of seats in these colleges; release of funds for general maintenance of colleges etc so that students and teachers do not suffer.”

He added that the fund crunch is holding back necessary infrastructure development in some of the colleges. “Additional funds, which are long overdue for the construction of new buildings for colleges like Bhagini Nivedita College, Aditi Mahavidayalya, Acharya Narendra Dev College, Indira Gandhi Institute of Physical Education and Sports, Maharishi Valmiki College of Education, etc must be sanctioned and released immediately. The land allotments are also necessary to construct their own buildings so that from temporary arrangements these colleges are given proper infrastructure. These colleges continue to function from their makeshift school buildings which are almost in the state of collapsing.”

While the Delhi government did not respond to this statement, they have in the past attributed these financial issues to “extreme financial mismanagement” by the colleges.