Revenue sinks as UoM presents deficit budget of ₹85.40 cr.

Receipts

The century-old University of Mysore (UoM) is facing a serious revenue deficit and plans are afoot to introduce austerity measures to cut down expenditure for mobilising funds towards the payment of pension to teaching and non-teaching staff.

The deficit is attributed to a drop in the allotment of funds from the government towards pensions. With the number of superannuating employees on the rise, the UoM may face tougher times in the years ahead if the allocation from the government doesn’t go up or if the UoM’s revenue doesn’t go up.

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Nearly 40 percent of the UoM’s expenditure goes towards salaries and allowances, and 30 per cent towards pensions.

The UoM is facing a revenue deficit of ₹85.40 crore for the year 2023-24. As against the projected revenue of ₹347.16 crore, the expenditure for the year stands at ₹432.56 crore, causing a deficit. The University’s budget for the year 2023-24 was presented at the Academic Council meeting, which was chaired by the newly-appointed Vice-Chancellor Lokanath N.K., here on Friday. The Finance Officer presented the budget. Registrar V.R. Shailaja and Registrar Evaluation A.P. Gnanaprakash were present.

In 2022-23, the government released ₹50 crore for the payment of pensions to 1,761 retired employees. However, the number of pensioners has gone up to 1,841 in 2023-24 and an additional 61 employees, including 21 teaching faculty and 40 non-teaching faculty, are on the verge of retirement.

The UoM needed ₹127.62 crore for pension payment in 2023-24 but the allocation from the government would be ₹50 crore. This will result in a shortfall of ₹77.62 crore. The University, however, has proposed to reduce expenses wherever it is possible, introducing austerity measures, so that the shortfall for pension payment can be met.

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In 2021-22, the government released ₹44.16 crore for pensions. The deficit for pensions went up from ₹5.84 crore in 2021-22 to ₹ 77.63 crore in 2023-24. In 2022-23, the deficit was ₹21.46 crore, according to the university.

The government was paying ₹121.08 crore for salaries and allowances to the permanent employees. The salaries are credited into the employees’ accounts through the HRMS portal.

Expressing concern over the declining allocation for pensions, Muzaffar H Assadi, Dean, Faculty of Arts, said the university may face a serious financial crisis in the years ahead when the number of pensioners goes up.

“With the formation of universities in districts and shrinkage of UoM’s authority, the revenue will continue to fall. Pensioners’ numbers are going up. The university may face problems in paying salaries and pensions in the years ahead,” he opined.

He suggested constituting a pressure group to recommend converting the UoM into a Central University.

Another AC member said the university must consider giving admissions at the all-India level since there was a demand for admissions from other States. “As of now, Karnataka has only one Central university which is at Kalaburagi. Another central university can be considered in the State and the UoM can be converted into a Central university,” he said.

Revenue sinks as UoM presents deficit budget of ₹85.40 cr.

Suggestions come in for converting UoM into a Central University to deal with the revenue crisis

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