New Delhi: The Delhi University’s decision to take a loan of Rs 938.33 crore to spruce up its infrastructure has been approved by its finance committee, but many professors believe the institute should raise funds rather than increase its debt.
The university will apply for this loan from the Higher Education Funding Agency (HEFA) — an autonomous financing agency under the Ministry of Education.
The purpose of the loan is to develop infrastructure, including academic blocks in the Roshanpura and Surajmal Vihar areas where the university has land.
The university has also mentioned in the past that it didn’t have enough funds to buy lab equipment and was running out of classrooms due to the increased intake of students.
The decision, which was first cleared by the building committee two days ago, will now be presented before the executive council (EC) Wednesday. The EC is the highest administrative body of the university.
This loan is in addition to the Rs 120 crore already given from central funds to implement the “Economically Weaker Section” quota.
The university in March reached out to the Ministry of Education seeking a total loan of Rs 1,075.40 crore for infrastructure development and creation of capital assets.
According to the HEFA funding pattern, DU will have to repay the loan in 20 half-yearly instalments in 10 years.
Speaking to ThePrint, Finance Committee member J.L. Gupta said he was unhappy with the rushed manner in which the proposal had been approved. He said, “The rushed implementation does not clarify the road map of the loan repayment procedure. There are several funds that are still underutilised in the university. We will be sending our note of queries to the administration.”
Rajesh Jha, a former EC member, said university professors were unhappy with the hurried loan-seeking as “the burden would now be passed on to students”.
Jha said, “Earlier this year, the university increased the development fund and added several more categories. Instead of raising funds, the university is moving towards a privatised model where poor students will have to bear the burden of the university’s debt.”
Underutilised funds
In addition to this – and according to the agenda of the finance meeting seen by ThePrint — the university will also ask the Ministry’s approval for the utilisation of the unspent balance of Rs 322.26 crore under the 12th Five-Year Plan (2012-2017).
Regarding the unspent money, Registrar Vikas Gupta told ThePrint, “These funds were given to the university under Vice Chancellor Yogesh Tyagi and were available for use only till 31 March, 2020. Due to problems at the university, we were unable to use them. As for the Institute of Eminence (IoE) funds, we have only received about Rs 65 crore, for use till 31 March, 2023.”
He added in order to get larger sums from IoE funding, the university would be required to build infrastructure adhering to the norms set by the ministry.
Vice Chancellor Yogesh Singh had previously told The Indian Express that the institute would seek approval for the utilisation of Rs 300 crore from the unspent amount.
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