Haryana govt yet to release grant to Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, staff salaries delayed

Sunit Dhawan

Rohtak, July 2

The disbursal of salaries to faculty members and non-teaching employees of the Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU), Rohtak, is getting delayed reportedly due to the paucity of funds.

Sources in the university said the state government had sanctioned a grant of Rs 148 crore for the MDU for this financial year, which was supposed to be paid in four instalments.

“However, not even a single instalment of the said amount has been received till date. The university authorities have sent three reminders to the state government, but to no avail. The MDU Finance Officer has been sent to Chandigarh to sort out the matter so that at least a portion of the funds earmarked for the university can be released,” said a source.

The MDU faculty members as well as non-teaching employees have demanded the immediate release of funds by the state government in order to ensure the payment of salaries to the university staffers.

“The government cannot run away from its responsibility of providing affordable higher education to the children of the state. Hence, it should ensure timely release of grants to the state universities. The university authorities should also assert their rights instead of resorting to increasing the fees to meet their expenses,” said Dr Vikas Siwach, president, MDU Teachers Association.

Siwach, who also heads the Haryana Federation of University and College Teachers Organisations (HFUCTO), demanded that the state government should at least bear the expenses incurred on the payment of salary and pension to the teachers and other employees of the state universities.

“Ideally, the state government should provide 100 per cent grant to the state universities to ensure the timely payment of salaries and pensions to the teachers and staff members. However, it gives only 20-25 per cent of the budget amount to the universities, which is inadequate. To make matters worse, even this amount is not released in time,” he stated. On the other hand, Rajkumar Sharma, the president of the MDU Non-Teaching Employees Association, has threatened to lock the university if the salaries of the employees are not released within two days.

Meanwhile, a delegation of MDU students met Rohtak City Magistrate Ankit Kumar and submitted a memorandum addressed to the Governor and Chief Minister today. The university students, led by student leader Deepak Dhankhar, urged the state authorities to release the blocked grant meant for the MDU at the earliest.

MDU Vice-Chancellor and Registrar could not be contacted for their comments.