Colleges peeved at govt as grant for only 92 aided institutes released

Aparna Banerji

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, December 17

Even as the Punjab government on Monday released grants worth Rs 31.92 crore for private aided colleges in the state, the government has yet again come under criticism for releasing only the grants of the second quarter for just 92 of the total 136 private aided colleges of the state even the rest languish due to lack of any grants.

In the district, the move hasn’t benefited the private aided colleges much, as almost all still remain without any grants.

Notably, the grants presently released are only the pending grants for the second quarter (for some of the colleges). Moreover, in Jalandhar, only the Lyallpur Khalsa College and SD College have received some money from the released amount.

Some of the colleges had filed cases against the government for the release of leave encashment and gratuity grants, which, after court orders the government released in the month of August this year. However, the colleges state that the government later verbally stated the released amount shall be counted as salary grants (even though this was actually the leave encashment and gratuity amount).

Dr Sarita Verma, general secretary of the Principals’ Association of colleges affiliated to the GNDU as well as a member of the Joint Co-ordination Committee of the PCCTU, Non-teaching and Principal’s Association of the Panjab University, Punjabi University and Guru Nanak Dev University, said, “While after cases by some of the colleges, gratuity amounts for some of them had been released, the present move is only the grants of the second quarter and doesn’t relieve majority of us of our burdens. The colleges are in a deep crisis and we need the18 months’ salary grants to run the show.”

The Principal of Doaba College – which was one of the colleges that filed a case seeking release of leave encashment and gratuity money from the government —Dr Naresh Dhiman, says, “Only half of the gratuity money for our college was released by the government in August. Our entire salary grants and half the gratuity grants remain pending and our college isn’t even on the list of these 92 colleges. Two days before Diwali, the government had released a list of colleges to which salary grants had to be paid. That list had our college’s name. This one doesn’t. The government has kept institutes totally in the dark about the criteria for making the lists. Even the decision that the gratuity amount paid will be treated as salary grants has been made verbally by the government. It does not say anywhere that one grant can be shifted to another account.”

Some of the colleges in the district are no more is a position to pay grants, some have taken loans to pay employees, there are some which paid salaries till December but do not know what they will do in December. While the December 15 rally in Jalandhar for the first time saw principals of reputed institutions taking to the streets, the government is apparently not concerned that it is leaving higher education in Punjab in a tattered state.

Meanwhile, not buying the government’s tactics, the Joint Co-ordination Committee of the PCCTU, Non-teaching and Principal’s Association of the Panjab University, Punjabi University and Guru Nanak Dev University also held a meeting today reiterating their stand for boycotting the December 19 examinations of all three universities. The non-teaching staff of the three universities will also hold a rally at the Company Bagh Amritsar on the same day. The committee will also hold a press conference at the Chandigarh Press Club on December 22.