PU hasn’t received a penny from Centre

Aarti Kapur

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 7

Panjab University has not received a single penny of grant from the Central Government even though half of the financial year 2015-16 has passed, resulting in an acute financial crisis on the campus. 

The revenue, which the university generated from its own resources, has also been exhausted in the past six month for releasing the employees’ salary, which has further added to the woes of the university. The authorities do not have funds to complete projects, which have been hanging fire for long. The cost of these projects is set to increase manifold due to the delay.

In 2014, the prestigious 100-bedded hospital project had to be scrapped by the authorities as the think tank committee of the university felt that besides the construction cost, the authorities would not be able to bear the recurring cost of the hospital.

According to this year’s budget report, Rs 555 crore was proposed for the next financial year, of which Rs 245 crore was income and Rs 313 crore deficit. To meet the deficit, the university receives a grant of Rs 20 crore from the state government and Rs 190 crore from the Union Government, but still a deficit of Rs 103 crore remains uncovered.