Punjab Budget a Cruel Joke for Punjabi University, Funding Meagre, Says VC

In an unprecedented move, the students, teachers and the vice chancellor of Punjabi University lambasted the reduced budgetary allocation of Rs 164 crore for the financial year 2023-24 and termed it a cruel joke on the institution which has been struggling to pay salaries to the teaching and non-teaching staff. Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema, in his budget speech, announced that the budget of Punjab’s biggest university has been brought down from Rs 200 crore to Rs 164 crore. The reduced budget drew sharp reactions from teachers and students who gathered outside the library on Friday to denounce the move.

In a video address to the academic community and people, Vice Chancellor Arvind said that the Punjabi University has been imparting affordable education to the students, particularly girl students from poor families in the Malwa region of Punjab. The affordability provided by hostels on the campus make it possible for students from other districts to live here. He said, "The main campus and other constituent colleges and centres serve more than two lakh students. The university has been braving a financial crisis for some years. We are facing this financial crisis because we declined to follow the neoliberal path in the country which advocated consistent fee hikes over the years. We served people the way it should have been done. The net result of this service is a salary bill of Rs 468 crore to pay to the teaching and non-teaching staff. We spend about Rs 100 crore on electricity, water, and other expenses. So, we have a budget of Rs 575 crore to run the university yearly.”

He added that out of this Rs 575 crore budget, the university receives Rs 200 crore from fees and affiliation from constituent colleges. “We had demanded Rs 360 crore as a grant from the Punjab Government this year so that we can pay the salaries and run the university in a smooth manner. We did not demand any other grant. Without this grant, it is impossible to run the university. Everybody knows about it and the government was explicitly told about it. The grant of Rs 164 crore to Punjabi University in the new budget is a cruel joke to us. We cannot run the university with this meagre funding."

He said that the Punjab government could have allotted proportionate money as per our demand. “We all know that the financial condition of the state government is not well. If we all are poor, we can eat less by distributing bread among ourselves. Had the grant been proportionate, we would have understood that the government is sympathetic, but it has some compulsions too. The government and its representatives had made big statements about health and education in the state. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann made a visit to the university on March 29 last year and he had announced that education will not be tangled in debt. With this grant, education can only be imparted through debt. The debt of Rs 150 crore will only increase and we will have to take more debt now to pay salaries.”

Talking about new initiatives at Punjabi University, he said, "We have taken new steps to improve the academic environment which are proving to be successful. We have started five-year integrated courses and a centre dedicated to the zoological diversity of the state. We have also started a skill development centre for farmers and traders. There are new academic programmes to commemorate Waris Shah’s 300th birth anniversary and the 150th birth anniversary of Bhai Veer Singh. So, we are asking the government to fulfil its duty."

He asserted that the existence of the university is closely knit with the fate of the state and its language. “We will do everything to make people aware of the importance of the university and to pressurise the government to save this historic institution. As the vice-chancellor of this university, I appeal to the government to increase the grant from Rs 164 crore to Rs 360 crore. Without this grant, the university cannot be saved. If this university dies, it will be equivalent to the death of Punjab and Punjabi.”

Balwinder Singh Tiwana, a retired professor of Economics from the University said that the budget for higher education for the next year has been fixed at Rs 990 crore which amounts to 0.5% of the entire budget of Rs 1.96 Lakh crore. So, it is bad news for higher education in the entire state. Talking to NewsClick over the phone, he said that the Punjabi University came into existence in 1962 and remains the second oldest university in the state after Panjab University in Chandigarh. It is the second oldest university in the world dedicated to any language.

He said, "It caters to 10 districts in the state and with over two lakh students, it remains the largest university in Punjab. So, the ignoring of this university by the state government means it is ignoring the people of the state. In other words, it is prioritising private universities. The university could have done wonders but it is suffering immensely in academics now. We have several departments where there are no professors to guide PhD students. It was here that renowned scholars like Gurdyal Singh, Dileep Kaur Tiwana, etc. gave their services. It is at this university that we produced classic dictionaries of Punjabi-Hindi, Punjabi-Persian and numerous phenomenal translations of social sciences books. In absence of funds, we could not do much. The university is taking the services of PhD students to teach masters students. So, it’s a precarious situation.”

A joint statement from Samyukta Chhatra Morcha comprising the Students Federation of India (SFI), All India Students Federation (AISF), PSU Lalkar, PRSU and PSU maintained that the students' groups will soon launch a statewide campaign to protest against the reduced allocation. It said, "Punjab CM came to the university campus and he was apprised of the fact that the university is reeling under a huge debt of Rs 150 crore and he promised that they will forego the loan. Yet, his government chose to reduce the budget. After the announcement of the new pay scale, the expenses of the university have increased by Rs 100 crore and with this budget, it can only run for three months. Thus we warn the Punjab government to reconsider it or get prepared for a new movement.”