'WE'RE LIVING ON PAST SAVINGS'

Public universities are left finding ways to be thrifty and generate income as their funding needs far outstrip government budgets.

- Atul Krishna

By the beginning of March, teachers of Punjabi University had gone two months without salary. The state university in Patiala, Punjab, has been facing severe funding challenges for years as government grants have long ceased to match its requirements.

"Right now, there is a Rs. 400 crore deficit. Salaries, other expenditures have increased but the university's income is around the same, with fee and affiliation costs. Moreover, the number of students joining colleges has declined," said Nishan Singh Deol, president, Punjabi University Teachers' Association. "We are being given Rs.150 crore annually. Additionally, we got some Rs.200 crore in the last budget. The university generates Rs.100-120 crore. Again, it is short of what is required as our salary budget alone is about Rs.450 crore."

The university cannot build a girls' hostel it needs; it has no funds for laboratories; its washrooms and common areas like canteens are dilapidated. 

Whether budgetary allocations increase or not, they are falling short of what educational institutions need as salaries and other costs have risen. In consequence, universities, state and central, are looking to cut expenditure, find new revenue sources and postpone expansion. No source is without problems and some fear that the burden of funding will eventually fall on students.

Lack of funds

"Teachers have not been paid for the last two months," said Deol. "The university needs almost Rs. 40-80 crore just for that [the arrears]."