As financial grants ebb, universities reel under crisis

The Universities are in an acute financial crisis ever since the government stopped the monthly grants. Since the salaries and pensions were taken from this money, there are apprehensions whether both will be stopped from next month.

There were instructions from the government that this month’s pensions and salaries should be allotted from the university or UGC allotted funds or deducted as overdrafts from banks. It is said that one University took the Chancellor’s award money for this purpose. This is the first time that Universities stopped receiving grants.

The situation is such that the government needs to arrange more funds. A lot of new universities have started, the domestic income of the Universities went down and there were also several new teaching positions.

Though the Higher Education department declared grants for Universities on the 22nd of July, due to the government’s financial crisis, the financial department refused to give permission to allocate grants.

30 crores for Kerala University, 20 crores for Calicut University, 16 crores for MG university, 14 crores for CUSAT, 6 crores for Sanskrit University, and 5 crores for Kannur are the grants required.

The universities have managed to tide over the crisis temporarily after the government’s assurance that the grants will be given very soon. But if the situation persists this will affect academic activities.

Older universities like Kerala, Calicut, and CUSAT, as well as Agricultural University, need a large sum as pension. The government has instructed the Universities to expand their domestic resource mobilization in order to organize separate funds for pensions. But right now the government has frozen this order.