Cash-strapped KU seeks Rs. 25-cr. grant

By G. Mahadevan

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, JUNE 19. The cash-starved Kerala University has appealed to the State Government for a one-time bail-out grant of Rs. 25 crores to prevent the day-to-day functioning of the varsity from coming to a standstill.

According to sources in the university, a delegation of top officials, including members of the Syndicate, met the Finance Minister and the Education Minister to brief them about the dire financial crisis in the university and to plead for adequate funds to tide over it.

The past one month has seen the financial situation of the university going from bad to worse, with accumulating debt and diminishing income. As of date, the university has spent Rs. 1 crore for remuneration and travel allowance in connection with centralised valuation camps held since the beginning of this financial year. Special allowances for varsity staff who went on camp duty are yet to be paid. The university had budgeted only Rs. 80 lakhs for this purpose. In addition to this, the university owes more than Rs. 50 lakhs to various people for home valuation, question paper setting and various other allowances.

The university took on an additional financial burden when it started giving salary as per the `enhanced rates' dictated by the UGC scales from the previous month onwards. Pension rates too have been refixed accordingly. The depth of the financial mess the university is in can be gauged by the fact that the sixth (of the total eight) installment of the commutation and the DCRG benefits of employees fixed as per the latest State Government pay revision are yet to reach the employees.

Sources say that while all these can be considered the university's internal matter, what has caused considerable public embarrassment for the university is the fact that it owes upwards of Rs. 2 crores to various firms that supplied it with computers, glassware, stationery, chemicals for laboratories and books for various libraries. The university is now scrambling to find funds required to sustain subscription to various foreign journals that are vital for teaching/research activities in the various departments.

The Plan grant for the university, as decided by the State Government, is Rs. 5 crores this financial year. Normally, the first installment of the grant - about Rs. 1.25 crores - is given to the university along with its monthly grant of Rs. 2,70,000. This month's grant bill, however, did not contain that much- needed first installment. Confounding all these problems was the retirement of 24 employees in May, the largest contingent of retirees in a month, so far. This included three professors, one joint registrar, deputy registrars and assistant registrars - all in the highest salary scale. It is estimated that the university needs to find Rs. 1.2 crores to give away the retirement benefits of these employees.

According to sources, the university is surviving this crisis by doing something that is very objectionable - diverting funds given by the UGC for various research projects. Some university officials say that if the UGC calls for a fund utilisation report of all these projects, the university's cover will be blown. The university Syndicate, on the other hand, is yet to hold a full- fledged discussion on the financial situation. The fact that July is the `collection month', when fee for private registrations and those for other courses flow in, should provide some cheer to the university.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Southern States
Previous : Airport director denies security risk
Next     : Arrack shops auction through Internet