Delhi govt releasing Rs 28.24 cr for salaries of DU college staff: Kejriwal

NEW DELHI: The Delhi government is releasing funds amounting to Rs 28.24 crore for salaries of the staff of Delhi University colleges funded by it, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Tuesday. He asserted that in the future they will only be issued based on the directions of the court on whether the funds, currently available under different heads, can be used for salaries or not.

The chief minister on Tuesday convened a meeting with principals and chairpersons of the 12 fully funded DU colleges by the Delhi government. "The Delhi government will release the funds which amount to Rs 28.24 crore. In future, funds will only be issued based on the directions of the court on whether the funds currently available under different heads can be used for salaries or not.

The Delhi government will release the amount so that the teaching staff and the colleges do not suffer till the matter is in court," the CM said at the meeting. "The government will issue an invite to the vice-chancellor on behalf of Manish Sisodia's office to have a dialogue with him on the pending issues and concerns. Sisodia also said that the 12 fully funded colleges should have confidence in the Delhi government, and they should be 100 per cent Delhi government-funded colleges in letter and spirit. It is an unfair and impractical approach to demand funds from one agency, but follow Pattern Of Assistance (POA) of some other agency, he said, adding that there should be 100 per cent transparency in their accounts and budgets which is required to bridge the gap between the Delhi government and Delhi University.

"DU colleges is not getting salaries"

Along with the officials of the Delhi government, including secretary and principal secretary for Department of Higher Education, college principals, and AO's (account officers) of the 12 colleges were present in the meeting.

"Since the last few days, I have been reading news reports that the teaching staff of the DU colleges is not getting salaries. Our government is known and recognised for working to improve the education and health sectors in Delhi. But, there has been an unwarranted misunderstanding and misinterpretation of the intentions of the Delhi government. "I want to clarify to all of the esteemed members present in this meeting, we are on the same side of the table. We do not oppose the pleas and concerns of the staff. Since the last few years, we have tried to initiate talks with the DU authorities and the VC, but there may have been differences, political and otherwise," he said.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia pointed out some administrative issues affecting the release of funds by the Delhi government. "Since the last five years, I have sanctioned funds to various colleges for various project proposals. We are ready to fully fund the colleges that come under our ambit, irrespective of the heads those funds come under. There needs to be 100 per cent transparency on behalf of our constituent colleges.

"The colleges should have confidence in the Delhi government, and they should be 100 per cent Delhi government-funded colleges in letter and spirit. If you behave transparently, the Delhi government is ready to give funds transparently. Everything should be reflected in their accounts and budgets," he said.

Delhi government Pattern of Assistance

Sisodia said that because these institutes are 100 per cent funded by the Delhi government, the Pattern Of Assistance of the Delhi government must be followed.

"The colleges must not bill the government. For example, the Delhi government does not have any record of the appointment of staff before 2010, but we are expected to pay the salaries of the teaching staff irrespective of that. "The colleges must take prior permission from the Delhi government before appointing the staff because the Delhi government is funding their salaries and expenses. If that does not happen, it will reflect as an impractical and unfair approach on the part of the Delhi University," he added.

Sisodia also said that the Governing Bodies serve as a bridge between the Delhi University and the Delhi government and "we cannot demolish them". "Their timeline should be extended as soon as possible. Fourthly, there have been delays in issuing the Utilisation Certificate (UC), which should be eliminated for the officials to function efficiently and release funds as soon as possible," he said.

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