Two Universities Encashed their Deposits as UGC Delay Funds
Jawaharlal Nehru University and Jamia Millia Islamia break their deposits for paying the employees and other expenditure. The universities did not receive the funds from the UGC due to which they had to break the deposit.
Out of the three central universities in the capital of the nation, two had to consequently break their short term deposits before maturity in the last year. The universities had to take this step so that they could bear their expenses which included paying the salaries of the employees as there was a delay in receiving grants from the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Information revealed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act said that Jamia Millia Islamia and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) encashed their deposits. Jawaharlal Nehru University encashed a sum of Rs. 795 lakhs.
Gagandeep Singh, the Deputy Registrar (Finance) of JNU, responded to the RTI and said that the university encashed the Term Deposit Resource Scheme (TDRS) which amounted to Rs. 795 lakhs on 7th December 2018, before maturity because it had not received a grant from UGC and had to make some essential payments.
Also Read: Kolhan University Directed by UGC to Start a Diploma Course in Environment Education
Jamia Millia Islamia, in response to the RTI, also told that it had to break its short term deposit. However, it did not disclose the total amount that was withdrawn. It had similar reasons to that of JNU like paying the employees, paying all the bills, etc.
A Right to Information was also filed with the University of Delhi (DU) regarding the same issue and asked if they ever had to break their fixed deposits for paying the teachers. DU replied that it is fully funded by the UGC and all expenditures and salaries are funded by the grant received from the UGC.
Also Read:UGC Asks Colleges and Universities to Give Reports on Sexual Harassment Cases
Rajnish Jain, the Secretary of UGC, when asked about the delay in providing funds to these two central universities, said that the allowances paid by the UGC are mostly on time. Such delays in funds by the MHRD happened once or twice in the previous year. He further said that he did not have knowledge about the exact reason that was behind this delay but it could only be a technical or procedural reason.