PU science departments rue lack of funds

PATNA: Even as practical classes form an important part of science education, especially at PG stage, a few science departments of Patna University (PU) can afford to impart satisfactory practical training to their scholars. Resource crunch has compelled most postgraduate departments to manage it somehow.
PU science faculty dean Amarendra Mishra said no postgraduate department of PU receives any grant from the state government for conducting theory or practical classes.Even the annual contingency grants for meeting day-to-day expenses are not released to the departments regularly. The contingency grants for the current financial year (2014-15) have not been received by any department till date, he said.
Moreover, the quantum of grant released to the departments is so meagre that it can hardly meet the laboratory expenses. “Can a postgraduate department think of purchasing equipment and chemicals required for practical classes at Rs 25,000 or so?” he asked.
PU geology department head M N Sinha said even though field work is an essential part of the curriculum, not a single penny is received for the purpose either from the state government or the university. Even the money realized from the students for field work at the time of their admission is not released to the department. Consequently, students complete their courses without visiting field which gives a very bad reputation to the PU academic standard, he said.
Patna Science College principal U K Sinha said PU is in the habit of sending 60% of the total receipts (admission fee of students admitted) to the respective departments as contingency grants. The social science departments are able to manage their functioning with this contingency grant as they have got a satisfactory strength of students, but the science departments are not able to fetch much funds as the number of students in these departments is considerably low.
He said the laboratories of different science departments of the college are being maintained somehow from the contingency grants. “I am personally not satisfied with the standard of practical training being imparted to the students,” Sinha added.