Managements of many of nearly 100 engineering colleges in Tiruchi region of Anna University are facing financial crisis and feel stranded in the backdrop of an uncertain admission season caused by the pandemic.
With the compulsion of servicing debts to banks on the one hand and the necessity to fall in line with the government’s directive not to collect fee, managements say they find themselves in deep trouble.
While the Central and State governments are responding to demands of industries, the pleas for financial support made by educational institutions that have also sourced term loans from banks have remained unanswered, P. Selvaraj, secretary of the Consortium of Self-Financing, Professional, Arts and Science Colleges, and founder Chairman of Shivani Group of Institutions said.
Private managements have paid salary of teachers till March and are struggling to cough up money to settle salaries for April. The government must at least consider in right earnest our request for overdraft credit on SC/ST student scholarships and first generation graduates, he said.
Last month, the AICTE directed colleges not to insist on payment of fees till the lockdown is lifted and normalcy is restored. Revised timelines will be issued by AICTE in due course, the communication said, directing the institutions to display the information on their websites and communicate the same to students through email.
The financial problem, sources in Anna University said, has turned severe for many of 60 colleges for which the first-year admissions did not exceed 100 last year. The plight of 20 colleges where the entire student strength is in the range of 100 is acute.
Now, the situation is such that teachers with Ph.D. qualifications who are being paid more are being eased out by managements due to cash crunch. Those with M.E. and M.Tech. qualifications who are paid a maximum of ₹20,000 a month have not received salaries for months in many colleges, sources said.
As the admission to engineering course has been witnessing a decline in recent years, a number of managements have not been able to fill even 50 % of sanctioned strength. But then, norms of the All India Council for Technical Education requires the managements to continue maintaining faculty strength in the teacher-pupil ratio of 1:15.
Managements of a number of institutions are contemplating opting for progressive closure, implying that they cannot admit students for first year, sources said.
