Govt college to increase PTA fund charged from students

Ravi Chandel

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, April 26

Over the years, a number of posts of regular faculty members are continuously getting vacated (retirement) at Government Rajindra College, due to which the college has to recruit new guest faculty members in every new session.

Subsequently, to recruit the guest faculty members’, the college has to pay their salary from the Parent Teachers Association (PTA) fund. The PTA fund is collected from the students.

In the present session, a total of six permanent faculty members have retired and one faculty member would be promoted.

As a result, the college has to hire seven new guest faculty members to fulfil the vacant posts of the permanent faculty members.

The college is all set to increase the amount of PTA fund charged from the students in the coming session.

Presently, the college is charging Rs 2,100 annually from the students as PTA fund.

The students’ organisation of the college, in the recent time, had protested against the state government over hike in the fees.

As per official records, there are 78 sanctioned posts of professors in the college. However, only 23 of these posts are filled at present.

The college has eight part time lecturers, two faculty members working on contractual basis and 38 guest faculty members.

The guest faculty members get Rs 21,600 per month from the college. Of this amount, the state government pays Rs 10,000 and the remaining Rs 11,600 is paid by the college from the PTA fund.

Sangeeta Rani, president of the Punjab Students Union, said, “If the college authorities will again increase the PTA fund charged from the students, we will stage a protest against the move.”

Mukesh Aggarwal, principal of the college, confirmed that in the coming session they were going to increase the PTA fund charged from the students.

He added that due to the acute shortage of regular staff members, they had to recruit guest faculty in the college. Though unwillingly, to give salary to the teachers, they have to increase the amount of PTA fund, Aggarwal said.