E-Paper
11 Delhi University colleges may face fund cut from UGC
The UGC had in August warned 21 DU colleges that it will withhold their grants if they did not appoint regular principals by October 31. While 10 of them have already appointed principals, 11 are yet to start the process
At least 11, out of 21 Delhi University colleges, have missed the University Grants Commission’s (UGC) deadline for appointing permanent principals.
The UGC had in August warned 21 DU colleges that it will withhold their grants if they did not appoint regular principals by October 31. While 10 of them have already appointed principals, 11 are yet to start the process.
The colleges which missed the UGC deadline are Gargi, Kamala Nehru, Motilal Nehru (both morning and evening), Shri Aurobindo (morning ), Maitreyi, Bharti, Satyawati (morning and evening), Rajdhani and Shaheed Bhagat Singh (evening).
Officials of some of the colleges that missed the deadline said they were not given ‘enough time’ to complete the procedure. “The three week period given by the UGC was not enough. We need to follow a lengthy procedure for the appointment of principals. However, whether a principal is ad-hoc or permanent it does not make a lot of difference. The UGC should rather speed up the process of filling faculty post lying vacant in colleges across DU,” said Harjeet Singh, chairperson of the governing body of Rajdhani College, one of the institutions without a permanent principal for the last six years.
Atul Kotra, chairperson of the governing body of Gargi College which is also running without a principal for the last six years, said they have already short listed 14 candidates. “We had to form a selection committee to short list three candidates. The members of selection committee are appointed by Delhi university. We received a list of names of members who will be on the selection panel without their contact details ,” said Kotra.
DU registrar Tarun Das did not respond to calls and messages by HT.
The 11 colleges under lens are among the ones who receive 5% funds from the Delhi government. Aam Aadmi Party MLA Sanjeev Jha, who looks after the 28 Delhi government funded colleges in DU, said that there was some confusion about the appointment criteria and the governing bodies of these colleges had also written to the UGC seeking clarification.
A senior UGC official said that the funds release of these colleges will be withheld for breaching the deadline. “We held a meeting with the university last month. We are looking into this and the funds to the colleges will be withheld for some time,” the official said.
