STATE GOVT, UNIVERSITY TEACHERS LOCK HORNS OVER PROVIDING LOANS INSTEAD OF GRANTS

Teachers and non-teaching staff of state universities and Haryana government are at loggerheads after the latter has decided to provide loans to the universities instead of grants.

Students, teachers and Opposition leaders continue to oppose the decision of BJP-JJP government saying that it is not a good step for the universities as it indicates the worsening situation. After it cut off grant to state universities and the finance department accorded its consent to the proposal of the administrative department to approve a loan of ₹147.75 crore, the teaching and non-teaching associations of universities and colleges are slamming the government.

The teachers’ association has handed over a memorandum to Governor Bandaru Dattatreya on this matter.

Several universities are struggling for lack of sources and financial crunch. Shortage of teaching and non-teaching staff along with lack of infrastructure in universities add to the woes.

A senior official of the department concerned said that in a bid to make all the universities self-dependent, the government has made the decision.

Dr Vikas Siwach, who holds the portfolio of president of Haryana Federation of Universities and Colleges Teachers’ Organisation (HFUTCO), said that the state government is leaving no stone unturned to put the universities on the backfoot. “The government has come up with this new decision of providing loans instead of grants which is a matter of serious concern requiring all the teachers along with other employees to oppose this.”

Kurukshetra University has been sanctioned the maximum loan amount of Rs 59 crore. The government has approved Rs 23.75 crore for Rohtak’s Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU), Rs 12.50 crore for BPS Mahila Vishwavidhalya at Sonepat’s Khanpur Kalan, Rs 10 crore each for Chaudhary Devi Lal University in Sirsa and Chaudhary Bansi Lal University in Bhiwani, Rs 8.75 crore for Kaithal’s Maharshi Balmiki Sanskriti University, Rs 7.25 crore for Dr Bhim Rao National Law University in Sonepat, ₹6.50 crore for Gurugram University, ₹5.50 crore for Ch Ranbir Singh University in Jind, and ₹4.50 crore for Indira Gandhi University in Rewa.

Dr Vivek Gaur, the president of Kurukshetra University Teachers Association (KUTA), said that the decision of giving loans to the universities is a clear indication of the state government’s ill-intentions towards the educational institutions. “Such steps are most likely to increase the woes of the universities as the institutions are already struggling over a string of fronts.”