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Journalism of Courage
ROHTAK, MARCH 11: Maharshi Dayanand University is facing an acute financial crisis. It may not be able to release this month’s salary to its employees if the Haryana government does not release the fourth installment of the Rs 3.15-crore grant.
The grant should have been released in January last in normal circumstances, university sources said. The university had demanded a grant of Rs 26 crore from the state government for the current financial year. The government sanctioned a meager sum of Rs 9.40 crore, out of which Rs 3.15 crore is yet to be released. The salaries of the university employees alone add up to Rs 14.40 crore. And the Fifth Pay Commission award has added to the burden.The officials of the finance department are getting panicky. One official has been deputed to get the grant cleared. The government has not raised any objection, an official said. They fear that they will have to burn mid-night oil to utilise the grant if it cleared late, as only 20 days are left for the financial year to lapse.
The delay in granting the funds has hit construction work. In 1997, the university began constructing an auditorium with a seating capacity of 2,500 and an estimated cost of Rs 2.79 crore. It was scheduled to be completed by 1996, but since February 1998, not a brick has been added to it. About Rs 1.25 crore is needed for the brick work, and another Rs 3 crore is needed for finishing touches, a source said.
The work on 32-Type quarters for non-teaching employees has been stalled for want of Rs 9 lakh. Similarly, Rs 20 lakh are needed to complete 20 houses for Type IV quarters. The state government’s delay in granting funds may affect the salaries of nearly 2,000 teaching and non-teaching employees. They may not get their salaries till in April.
