E-Paper
JNU denies 75% fund cut in annual library budget
The reports on the annual budget for the Dr B R Ambedkar (central) library of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has been reduced from ₹8 crore to ₹1.7 crore are completely baseless. The University has been allotting an amount of ₹1.7 crore to the library for books and journals from the fund it receives from the University Grants Commission (UGC) annually.
The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) administration on Thursday denied claims that they have slashed the annual budget for its central library by 75%. Last week, the JNU students’ union (JNUSU) had alleged that the University has reduced the annual library fund from R 8 crore to R 1.7 crore. The administration maintains that it allots an amount of R 1.7 crore to the library every year.
University’s financial officer Heeraman Tiwari issued a statement, saying, “The reports on the annual budget for the Dr B R Ambedkar (central) library of JNU has been reduced from R 8 crore to R 1.7 crore are completely baseless. The University has been allotting an amount of R 1.7 crore to the library for books and journals from the fund it receives from the University Grants Commission (UGC) annually. However, in 2012, the UGC gave a bulk grant to JNU under the 12th five year plan. That amount was allotted for five years.”
“Now that the 12th plan has ended, the library is running with its regular annual arrant. However, JNU has already made a request to the UGC to release additional funds to meet the increasing requirement of the library,” Tiwari said in the statement.
JNUSU president N Sai Balaji, however, said the amount released by the UGC under 12th five-year plan was ₹20 crore. “The UGC had, in 2012, released an amount of R 20 crores for five years. The administration is hiding the facts. When the JNU administration knew that the grants were ending, why wasn’t sufficient planning done to arrange for funds?” he asked.
The JNUSU also alleged that the administration was spending R 7- 8 crores on the library budget from various sources till last year. “Now if one source has dried up or closed isn’t it the responsibility of administration to push for alternatives as soon as possible?” Balaji said.
The students’ union said that due to the alleged reduction in budget the students are unable to renew their e-journals and e-subscription that is affecting their research work.
