The Delhi University Principals’ Association (DUPA) on Thursday hit out at Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia over his unsubstantiated allegations and misleading statements, charging various colleges of misappropriation of funds.
For the last several months, teachers and administration at 12 colleges that are fully funded by the Delhi government have been complaining over delay in release of funds, as a consequence of which salaries of many employees have not been paid.
Of the ₹275 crore due to the colleges, only a sum of about ₹37 crore has been released so far, said Jaswinder Singh, DUPA president and Guru Tegh Bahadur Khalsa College principal, while 75% of the funds should have been released by now.
Reiterating his position, Mr. Sisodia in a statement said that the Delhi government had increased the funds of these colleges by two to three times, despite which they had failed to pay salaries. He added that some of these colleges had been depositing money in fixed deposits which had accrued ₹15 to ₹30 crore, and argued they should be used for the college’s expenses. He demanded that the sources of college income be made accessible to auditors to investigate possibilities of corruption and stern action be taken instead of “political statements”.
Fixed deposits
Representatives of the DUPA highlighted that while funds had been increased, expenses of the colleges had also increased with the implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission, expansion of the colleges and other expenses. Regarding fixed deposits held by colleges, secretary of the association and Aryabhatta College principal Manoj Sinha said it was a common practice for education institutions to hold such deposits for provident funds, etc.
Shaheed Sukhdev College principal Poonam Verma hit out at the allegations, stating that the college had submitted to all audits, which have also been cleared by their governing bodies, including a special audit demanded by the government. Ms .Verma called the allegations “motivated” and an attempt to politicise educational institutions, which she argued would have adverse consequences.
Governing body
In a statement, the DUPA questioned the basis of the special audit against six colleges, asking whether they had been picked as “members of their choice could not be elected as chairperson in the governing body of these colleges”. Rejecting allegations of misappropriation of funds, the association appealed to Mr. Sisodia to “exercise restraint” in making such comments.
It also appealed to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to intervene and meet the association representatives. In case of issues with the governing bodies, DUPA representative said that mediations could be undertaken by the association to resolve issues as well.
