All is well for now, but annual 6% grant hike not enough: Panjab University to HC

Panjab University has told the Punjab and Haryana high court that financial commitments made by the Union and Punjab governments are enough for now.

However, to meet future fiscal challenges it needs enhancement in grant on “actual” basis and not the annual 6% hike committed by both governments.

Submissions in this regard were made by the varsity during resumed hearing of a public interest litigation (PIL) initiated by the high court (HC) in 2016 on reports of poor financial health of the institute.

The HC bench of chief justice Krishna Murari and justice Arun Palli had sought response from PU after Raj Kumar became the vice-chancellor in July 2018. His predecessor Arun Kumar Grover has all along maintained that PU needs more funds. The court while posting the matter for hearing in November has sought response from the Centre on the varsity’s affidavit.

‘5-6% fee hike needed’

The affidavit filed by PU registrar Karamjeet Singh says the Centre has determined ₹207 crore salary grant for PU for 2017-18 with an increase of 6%.

The grant comes with certain riders, such as the varsity is to maintain the ratio of teaching and non-teaching staff at 1:1. Further, PU should seek the Centre’s nod while creating new academic as well as non-academic posts or filling any vacant post.

After five years, Punjab too has enhanced its contribution from ₹20 crore to ₹27 crore in 2018-19 with an annual enhancement of 6%.

“Under the new arrangement of funding, the university could fully meet the current requirements provided it operates in a stagnant manner and various fee charges are enhanced annually by 5-6%, for which resistance from students and other stakeholders could be faced,” the registrar has told HC.

‘Funds for vacancies’

The varsity has also stated that to remain competitive, certain requirements needed to be met.

Against the sanctioned strength of 1,378 faculty posts, there are only 739 regular appointees. On 501 posts, 75 teachers are those continuing after retirement due to court stay, 162 working on temporary basis and 264 guest faculty. Currently, no appointment has been made against 138 faculty positions.

Also, there will be a vacancy of 378 administrative posts in next three to four years. To fill the vacant posts, PU would need more than 6% annual hike in funds committed by the Centre and Punjab. Hence, both governments need to consider the enhancement on actual basis, the court was told.