UGC tightens purse strings, JNU V-C says research will suffer

THE TUSSLE over funds between the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and the University Grants Commission (UGC) does not seem to be ending.

After students last month claimed they had not been getting their non-net fellowships since January, JNU wrote to the UGC asking them to disburse the “overdue” Rs 11 crore. The UGC is learnt to have replied saying that funds being asked for were “over and above the allocation” under the XIITH plan grant and, therefore, could not be given.

The UGC also allegedly said that JNU had incurred “excess expenditure” from its plan grant on electricity and water.

In response, JNU vice-chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar wrote to the UGC acting chairman on April 21, arguing that the money being demanded is part of the allocation and that the expenditure was “unavoidable”. Kumar said if funds are not to be spent from the plan grant, he “would be grateful if UGC could advise him as to how to meet the expenditure”.

UGC sources had told The Indian Express that the university hadrs16croreasblockgrantsand fellowships could be paid from that. JNU has started paying fellowships from its balance but the issue seems to be far from over.

In his letter, Kumar refers to a previous letter from UGC joint secretary J K Tripathi. “The letter states that the UGC observed there is an excess expenditure, probably under electricity and water charges, which were supposed to be met from non-plan grant. I would like to state that as mentioned in my previous letters, the non-plan no salary allocation made by UGC is only Rs 25 crore while the expenditure on electricity and water is about Rs 36 crore per year. It is obvious that the charges cannot be met from the meagre non-plan grant allocation. As a result, the university is left with no option but to delve into plan funds,” Kumar said.

“The letter also states the audit does not allow UGC to release Rs 11 crore over and above the allocation under the plan head... XIITH plan allocation for the university was Rs 204 crore (subsequentlyraisedtors242croreand nowrs247crore),ofwhichrs231 crore was released. Thus, the demand for Rs 11 crore is not above the plan grant,” Kumar said.

Hesaidjnuhadtaken“several energy conservation measures and the amount being paid on electricity is the bare minimum”.

Kumar has demanded that the UGC provide adequate funds under non-plan head, arguing that “failure to do so would severely impact ongoing research in the university”. He demanded that JNU gets its “approved allocation” of Rs 247 crore “in full” without being penalised for expenses on water and electricity.

Kumar did not respond to questions on the letter and Registrarpramodkumarsaidhedidnot know about it. He said the funds being asked for by JNU are due.

Express archive At a protest by JNU students.