DU principals' body accuses Delhi govt of delaying release of funds to state-funded colleges

NEW DELHI: The Delhi University Principals' Association on Thursday accused the Arvind Kejriwal dispensation of "deliberately delaying" the release of sanctioned grants to government-funded colleges, sources in the Lt Governor's Secretariat said on Thursday.

During a meeting with Lt Governor VK Saxena on Thursday, a delegation of the association raised issues affecting government-funded colleges, including curtailment of funds, non- or delayed payment of salaries to staff members and non-sanctioning of teaching and non-teaching posts.

It also sought Saxena's intervention so that the colleges could focus on providing quality education. The delegation also raised the issue of pending medical reimbursements and other dues of employees and said salaries were being delayed by one to five months.

There was no immediate reaction available from the government. The delegation included Delhi University Principals' Association President and Khalsa College Principal Jasvinder Singh, association Secretary and Aryabhatt College Principal Manoj Sinha and the principals of three other colleges.

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There are 12 Delhi University colleges fully funded by the Kejriwal government. "The serious issues that are affecting the quality of education in these colleges include deliberate curtailment of funds, non/delayed payment of salaries to staff, non-sanctioning of teaching and non-teaching posts by the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP government, and day to day interference and harassment by incapable and inexperienced persons appointed to the governing bodies of these colleges by the AAP government," the sources said, citing the association.

The delegation informed Saxena that no grants had been allotted to many colleges for capital assets and sports promotion in for the past four years. The sources added that the Public Works department had not started repair and maintenance work in some colleges while it had stopped work at others due to non-sanction of funds.

"As a result, the college buildings and infrastructure are in a depleted condition," the sources added. "No new posts of teaching and non-teaching staff are being sanctioned despite the increase in student strength by 25 per cent due to implementation of reservations for the economically weaker sections. "Some colleges are under-utilising physical capacity but due to non-sanction of teaching and non-teaching staff, they colleges are not able to start new courses and increase enrolment," the sources said.

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In its representation, the association said, "Numerous new and relevant courses were started in these colleges to cater to the needs of the emerging economy and provide employment to the youth and, as a consequence, many teaching and non-teaching positions were filled, the approval of which is pending with the government."

The association requested Saxena to intervene and take steps to ensure ex post facto approval of all the positions and allow further recruitment of teaching and non-teaching staff members as was the case in other Delhi University colleges. The Lt Governor's Secretariat has marked the association's representation, along with another submitted by the Delhi University Karmachari Parishad, to Kejriwal for remedial action on priority.