Management of Finance in acute dearth of resources in the State-aided Universities: Special reference to Jadavpur University

Financial health is an important consideration for quality education and research in a university and is accounted in all accreditation and ranking frameworks. The main sources of funding for the public Universities are the Government of India (GoI) funds and the state government funds, which consistently comprise around 90% of the total budget of the university. The state-aided universities are largely funded by the state governments; but they receive a large chunk of their Research and Development grants from the Central Government as well.

However, in the recent years, specifically after 2017, there has been a sharp decline in GoI funding. On the other hand, while the state fund towards salary head has remained assured, there is a huge deficit towards the fund for non-salary essential expenditure of the university, which is of the utmost importance to run the university smoothly. A decade ago, the average share of funding pattern of the total university budget was: State: 65%; GoI: 25% and own resources: 10%. But now the pattern has changed to: State: 85%; GoI: 10% and own resources: 5%.

A detailed analysis of the three components and their present status as given below depict a clear picture of the situation.

GOI funds are shrinking:

Earlier the state Universities received the GoI funds mostly through the UGC. After the end of the 12th Plan Period in 2017, the “plan period” concept has been withdrawn and the UGC grants for the development of the state-aided universities have simply disappeared. There is no hope of any alternative in the near future. Moreover, as per GoI policy, we are required to pay interest to GoI for refund of any unspent amount; but the funds due [spent as per sanction and approval] from GoI agencies have amounted to around Rupees 10 Crores [under different projects/schemes, like UGC- FRP Scheme, UGC-HRDC scheme, UGC-SC/ST Coaching scheme, DST-PURSE & DST-Nano-mission projects and finally RUSA project]. This situation is affecting us adversely. The Prime Minister’s Research Fellowship (PMRF) 2020 has been advertised only for the IITs, IISERs, IISc, and the?Central Universities/NITs offering science and/or technology degrees which appear in the list of top 25 institutes in the NIRF ranking (overall) in the previous year. Unfortunately, it has excluded all the state-aided universities and institutes even with high rankings.

Jadavpur University was awarded a special fund of Rs.100 crores under the RUSA scheme [60% GOI & 40% State], as one among the few universities with a NAAC score above 3.5 in the 4-point scale. Although we got the first installment of Rs. 41.67 crores in 2019, the non-receipt of the second installment compelled us to stop the expenditure in 2021. The consequences have seriously affected the research activities in the universities. We have been attempting to realise the remaining funds for almost two years now. We have not been awarded the status of Institute of Eminence by the GoI [where the Budget was of Rs.650 Crores] although the Empowered Committee selected JU and as one of the top 10 awardees.

GoWB funds

The funding for salary is ever-increasing and we are getting full support from the state government in the matter. But the non-salary funds are decreasing, and the same also applies for development grants. Moreover, the liabilities towards the contractual employees, part-time /special allowances and payments to the manpower agencies, where the total annual spending is more than Rs. 10 crores, are not covered under the Salary grants.

The non-salary grants released by the state government to support all other academic and administrative activities, are so paltry that this year it will be less than 50% of the fund requirement of JU. It is needless to mention here that we are not getting funds under this head, based on the report of the Review Committee constituted by the state government in 1994-95. It was then finalized that the annual requirement of Non-salary funds for JU would be Rs.4.625 crores in the year, with agreed enhancement of 10% annually. Based on the formula our agreed due grant would have been Rs. 64.00 Crores in the current year; whereas our allotment in the State Budget is Rs.24.99 Crores.?

The development grants have also become stagnant and the grants under a few projects are also long overdue. As per the written commitment by the government in 2017, we had spent Rs.1.00 cores for the purchase of books; where the fund is due till date. No further fund has been granted by the government to purchase books till date. Thus, we are experiencing acute dearth of resources/facilities for academic development, and research infrastructure.

OWN RESOURCES, INCLUDING FEES:

The last resort of funding is ‘Resource generation’. Although we have?a few options, such as the university share of testing & consultancy, project overheads and other receipts, the growth of these is not very encouraging. The income from fees, which is presently the lowest across all the universities & institutes in the country, can be a powerful source of revenue because of its multiplier effect. However, (i) The tuition fee has remained static since 2000, i.e. for the last 22 years. Now the income from the tuition fees of all the courses is less than 4% of our total budget; whereas the declared policy of the GoI recommends a re- covery of 30% of the expenditure from the fees. (ii) The Hostel fee is Rs.25/- per month for the last fifty years; whereas the demand for comfort and luxury in the hostels are ever increasing. These demands include Internet and wifi connections, RO & cold water supply, kitchen support and many other facilities.

The following comparison will definitely advocate an enhancement of fees to a reasonable figure, to tide over the situation. Table 1 shows the almost static nature of the fees structure while Table 2 shows the increase in prices and salaries.?

The above tables signify the urgent need of review of the fees structure, where the basic rule of revision, inflation factors and market price rise should be taken into education. We are imparting education with the lowest possible fees, where the very minimum compensation from individuals who are able to pay is also not taken. Such a paltry fee structure prompts the students neither to get actively involved in their classes, nor feel involved in the wellbeing of the university. If this scenario continues, then a day will come when we can’t go for any up-gradation/ or purchase new equipment, or to keep pace with the technological advancements.?

The following information is worth consideration in this context; where the NIRF ranks of top state universities are better than all but seven top IITs and all the IISERs in each of the last three NIRF rankings. IIT Dharwad, IIT Jammu, IIT Goa, IIT Bhilai, IIT Tirupati, IIT Palakkad did not feature in the list of top 100 institutions (overall) in last three years.

The cost of investment /spending per Teacher is the lowest among the state universities; it’s not at all comparable with the figures of IITs & NITs. Even, the spending level of central universities is also much higher than the possible spending by state universities like us.

The income from research funding and sponsored projects is declining sharply; with the number of projects shrinking and the overheads on all such projects reduced drastically. The other change in the funding pattern is the introduction of TSA [Treasury Single Account] and SNA [Single Nodal Account] concepts of fund release by all the GoI agencies. With these, the funds will not be paid directly to our bank account, but will remain in the TSA & SNA accounts of the respective funding agencies. Thus, the actual fund control will be done by them, and we would have no flexibility or scope to spend beyond the stipulated time-frame. We have to prepare ourselves for the new regime, or else we will be in real trouble.

If we cannot provide funds for research and laboratories of latest technologies or for the basic requirements for augmentation of academics and research; then how can we expect our ranking to improve?

We have moved up in the NIRF Ranking 2022. Such a high rank with so inadequate funding for research and other infrastructure is really commendable and is a testament to the dedication, devotion and sincerity of a large number of teachers, researchers, students, officers and the entire university community. We can achieve an even higher place if we can get at least the funding of the previous decade. To plan and proceed further in the rankings, we have to ensure more funds to run the system smoothly and effectively.

It is high time for us to awake and think and plan for the future, so that we can develop a proper system of funds flow for our existence. All of the stakeholders of the university, including teachers and students across the faculties, as well as the administrators should come together and discuss in detail to find out a unified long-term strategy to overcome this crisis if we want to maintain the glory of our university.?

By Gour Krishna Pattanayak, Finance Officer (F.O.), Jadavpur University

[Reproduced the article from IQAC 2022 Newsletter, August 2022]