Non-utilisation of grants worries Rajasthan governor
He has sought a response from vice chancellors over the lack of adequate system concerning management of funds.
jaipur Updated: Mar 25, 2018 21:50 IST
Governor Kalyan Singh has expressed serious concern over non-utilisation of grants by state universities, a Raj Bhavan official said on Sunday.
The governor, also the chancellor of all state universities, has taken a tough stand on the issue and sought a response from vice chancellors over the lack of adequate system concerning management of funds, the Raj Bhavan official said a statement.
“In addition, he said the matter be made a permanent point of discussion in all vice-chancellor conferences,” said the statement.
Singh has sought information regarding grants received by the universities from various sources in the past 3 years and the same has to be furnished by the varsities by April 15. The governor has also asked them to constitute a committee for monitoring financial discipline, it said.
Singh mentioned that future grants would be stopped if a university does not utilise the fund, the release said.
A block grant is given to the universities by the state government every year which is by and large spent in meeting the running expenses.
The grants for development of the state universities are given by the central government or the University Grant Commission.
The governor has urged the vice chancellors to spend every penny of the grant reasonably and in a time-bound manner in future.
“Because of non-utilisation of grants, the grants that are to be received in future also get stalled. This hinders the development of universities and affects the facilities available to students,” said the governor.
Reacting to the governor’s letter, Prof PK Dashora, the vice chancellor of University of Kota, said the decision was in the right direction.
“It will help us identify and straighten out the issues that come in the way of effective grant utilization. Sometimes it is the manpower, sometimes it is the permissions, and sometimes there are other constraints that are behind the non-utilisation of grants,” said Dashora.
Prof RK Kothari, the vice chancellor of University of Rajasthan, Jaipur, said he formed a Fund Management Committee as soon as he took over the reins of the university.
“A grant of ₹5 crore from Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) was lying unutilised and we have spent 80% of that. We are likely to get another grant of ₹10 crore and subsequently ₹5 crore from RUSA,” he said.