KU to raise fiscal crisis issue at meeting

By Our Staff Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, AUG. 17. The financial crisis prevailing in the University of Kerala will be the main issue that is sought to be raised by the university authorities at the Inter-university Consultative Committee meeting in Kottayam on August 18.

The university which collects a sum of Rs. 4.38 crores as fees for the conduct of examinations and distribution of certificates, spends Rs. 16.56 crores annually under these heads.

This year, the expense incurred on centralised valuation of Pre- Degree and Degree examinations is to the tune of Rs. 1.25 crores. The sum accumulated under this head since 1994-95, was Rs. 4.16 crores and the State Government was yet to pay up the dues, despite repeated assurances in this regard, university sources said.

However, there has been no laxity on the part of the university in publishing the results within a specific time frame, it has been pointed out.

For its day to day functioning, the university is heavily dependent on grants from the Government. In spite of a 10 per cent increase in the annual grant, the university is still short of over Rs. 26 crores. For salaries and pensions alone, there is need to mobilise an additional sum of Rs. 78 lakhs per month.

The last time the university went for a substantial hike in its fee structure was in 1976. Even though there has been slight increases now and then, it could hardly meet the increased expenditure. The university pointed out that in all other service sectors other than education, fees or taxes have been revised, modified and increased from time to time.

At the present rates, for the university to strike a balance between its income and expenditure, there ought to be at least a five-fold increase in the existing fee structure. The slight increase effected recently was mainly aimed at modernising the examination wing of the university for providing better services to students. It was unfortunate that the student organisations had reacted against it, the university sources said.

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Section  : Southern States
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