NEW DELHI: The University Grants Commission (UGC) has informed that University of Delhi (DU) has 91 constituent/affiliated colleges, out of which UGC provides revenue grants to 53 colleges, 12 colleges are fully funded by the Government of NCT of Delhi and the remaining 26 receive funds from other sources, said sources.
The Union education ministry put forth this data in the Parliament session when asked whether the government has taken note of the financial crisis in some DU colleges due to delay in release of funds by the government. The question was asked by Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma, Member Parliament from Delhi.
Meanwhile, responding to another question on whether the Centre has directed the Delhi government to ensure the release of pending funds to DU colleges, the ministry said, “A representation was received in the ministry from all the twelve principals of DU colleges, fully funded by the government, regarding the hardships to the staff members and pensioners due to non-release of Grants in Aid.”
The reply added, “The same was forwarded to the Directorate of Higher Education, Government of NCT of Delhi for taking necessary action in the matter. The UGC informed that the DU has also communicated that it has received representations from the staff of 12 colleges regarding the delay in the release of funds by the Government of NCT of Delhi.”
According to the response of the ministry, the UGC has released grants amounting to Rs 2134.54 crore, Rs 2446.83 crore, and Rs 590.51 crore during the financial years 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23 (upto June 2022) respectively to the 53 DU colleges funded by UGC. It also read, “The University of Delhi has informed that the Government of NCT of Delhi has also been releasing grants to the 12 colleges fully funded by them, albeit delayed.”
In regard to the affiliation fee, the union ministry said, “The University Grants Commission (Conferment of Autonomous Status upon Colleges and Measures for Maintenance of Standards in Autonomous Colleges) Regulations, 2018 have been notified on February 12, 2018, on the guiding principle that college autonomy is instrumental for promoting broad-based quality education and excellence.”
“Under the provisions of these regulations, the autonomous colleges can fix fees of the courses at their own level and have also been exempted from paying affiliation fees to the parent university every year,” the statement added.