Self-financed colleges suffer as DHE yet to refund admission fee

Strap: Unable to pay salaries, bear other daily expenses

BQ ‘Restore old system’

It is for the first time that students on getting admission are depositing fee online to the DHE’s account and then the DHE has to refund the fee to the colleges. Earlier, a challan was generated by the DHE to submit the admission fee and the students deposited the fee to the college concerned. So, we are demanding the restoration of the earlier system of submitting fee directly to the college concerned either online or offline

Kuldeep Arya, secretary, haryana self-financed college association

Ravinder Saini

Tribune News Service

Rohtak, October 20

Self-financed degree colleges across the state are at the receiving end as the Department of Higher Education (DHE) has not refunded the fee to them even several days after the deposition of fee by the students figured in the first and second merit list for the admissions to first year of undergraduate courses.

The colleges are finding it difficult to pay staffers’ salaries and bear other expenses. The students are now bound to deposit admission fees online to the DHE due to Covid pandemic.

“As per guidelines, the DHE was to refund the admission fee to all government-aided and self-financed colleges across the state within 48 hours along with a list of students. Last date for deposition of fee by students for first and second merit list was October 8 and October 14, respectively but the DHE has not yet refunded the fee to any college,” said Kuldeep Arya, Secretary, Haryana Self-Financed College Association (HSFCA).

He said the delay in refunding the fee had put the colleges in trouble as they were unable to pay the salary of their teaching and non-teaching staff and bear other daily expenses too. Majority of the college owners had taken hefty loans for developing infrastructure hence they had been waiting for the fee to repay the loan. The association had raised the issue before the DHE but the fee had not been transferred to the colleges, he added.

“It is for the first time when the students on getting admission deposit the fee online to the DHE’s account and then the DHE will refund the fee to the colleges. Earlier, a challan was generated by the DHE to submit the admission fee and the students deposited the fee to the college concerned. So, we are demanding the restoration of the earlier system of submitting fee directly to the college concerned either online or offline,” Arya said.

Despite repeated attempts neither Director General (Higher Education) Ajit Balaji Joshi nor Deputy Director Hemant Verma could be contacted.