Delhi govt-funded colleges in DU struggle to pay staff salaries, bills – cities

Twelve Delhi College (DU) colleges absolutely funded by the Delhi authorities are struggling to pay salaries to instructing and non-instructing staff, and electrical energy and different bills, for the final three months due to the scarcity of funds.

Officers at Deen Dayal Upadhyaya School (DDU) stated their telephone and web connections had been disconnected as they may not pay the dues for 4 months.

Whereas a few of these colleges have paid salaries to their instructing staff for the month of Could by diverting funds from different accounts, majority of them are but to pay salaries for the final three months.

Though the Delhi authorities stated it has launched funds for salaries, officers at these colleges stated the cash is “inadequate”.

A senior official in the federal government’s finance division stated there’s a main scarcity of funds due to the pandemic.

“Revenues have dropped. The Capital recorded income collections of lower than 40% for the primary 4 months of the monetary 12 months 2021-21 in contrast to the corresponding interval in the earlier 12 months. Until June, the federal government was going through difficulties even in paying salaries of staff. Massive parts of funds had been utilised in Covid administration. The federal government has sought monetary help of Rs 5,000 crore from the Centre however it’s but to obtain any quantity,” the official quoted above stated.

Hem Chand Jain, principal of DDU, stated their telephone and web connections had been disconnected and electrical energy connection will likely be snapped quickly.

“The school has Rs 17.6 crore deficit of which Rs eight crore is required for the fee of salaries. The Delhi authorities has already paid Rs 2.three crore twice in March and April however it was not ample. Our month-to-month expenditure on wage fee is Rs 2.7 crore. We couldn’t pay salaries to our instructing and non-instructing staff since Could. How can the federal government assume we might give you the chance to meet all expenditures with such an inadequate fund?” he stated.

Jain stated the faculty couldn’t pay electrical energy bills, property tax and different pending expenditures since April. “We’re getting repeated calls from the electrical energy board. We couldn’t pay the electrical energy invoice for the final 4 months and now now we have to pay Rs 40 lakh collectively. We’re quickly going to lose the connection if the quantity is just not paid on the earliest. It is going to be a giant situation since now we have staff and a few worldwide college students residing on the campus,” he stated.

Delhi schooling minister Manish Sisodia stated, “Now we have already launched the wage funds however the authorities can be wanting funds.”

The same state of affairs prevails in different 11 colleges, together with Keshav Mahavidyalaya, Shaheed Rajguru School for Utilized Sciences for Ladies, Maharaja Agrasen School and Acharya Narendra Dev School. There are round 1,200 instructing and 900 non-instructing staff members employed on a everlasting foundation in these colleges, apart from the contractual staff.

DU’s Dean of Colleges Balaram Pani stated the college had written to the Delhi authorities a number of occasions in the final three months over the problem. “In April, the colleges had a backlog of earlier months. The funds obtained had been additionally inadequate. If the faculty required Rs 7 crore, solely Rs 2 crore was transferred to them. How is it even doable for the colleges to operate in such circumstances,” he stated.

Ravi Toteja, principal of Acharya Narendra Dev School, stated, “We couldn’t pay salaries to our instructing and non-instructing staff members since April. We’re but to pay our electrical energy and different bills. Our connection will be disconnected anytime quickly.”

Beside salaries and bills, these colleges are struggling to preserve infrastructure and different amenities. Payal Mago, principal of Shaheed Rajguru School for Utilized Sciences for Ladies, stated, “The school has a sewage therapy plant at its campus. Due to the non-fee of salaries, the PWD eliminated the technician taking care of the plant and now sewer water is flowing everywhere in the campus. However we would not have funds to repair it.” The school paid electrical energy bills until final month, diverting funds from college students’ funds.

DU Lecturers’ Affiliation president Rajib Ray stated, “It’s completely inhuman that our colleagues working in these colleges are unpaid for the final three months. The federal government ought to instantly launch all pending funds.”