Govt promoting private universities; Centre to blame for financial crisis of PU, says former MP

PU is an inter-state university, with Punjab being the only other state. Earlier, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana also had a stake in it. Punjab, initially, restricted its share of maintenance grant to Rs 16 crore, but revised it to Rs 20 crore. The Centre provides fund to the university through the University Grants Commission (UGC) after adjusting the Punjab contribution and the surplus from self-financing courses.

Last month, the UGC refused to increase non-plan grant to PU and and fixed ceiling at Rs 176 crore for 2016-17. The UGC is providing the same amount since 2014-15. The Panjab University had submitted a 183-page report to the Punjab and Haryana High Court apprising it of the current fiscal crisis in the university.

The High Court had taken suo motu notice of The Indian Express report on PU V-C Prof Arun Kumar Grover’s statement that the university was on the verge of closure. In its report, the PU had stated that if the UGC does not accept its revised requirement of Rs 277.72 crore, it shall lead to accumulation of deficit of Rs 107.72 crore up to the end of the financial year. The university will not be able to pay salaries and pension to its staff after the month of December.

Bansal also slammed the government for inconvenience caused to the general public due to demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes. “The government had claimed that the move will get rid of black money and counterfeit currency. However, we keep hearing news about people getting arrested with counterfeit currency,” said Bansal.

The senior leader also slammed the party for going on an “inauguration spree” before model code of conduct came into force. He flayed BJP leaders for taking credit for projects that were conceived by Congress councilors. BJP MP Kirron Kher alone inaugurated around 30 projects in the past two months.