KOCHI: MG University has got a raw deal in the state budget presented by Finance Minister Thomas Isaac on February 2 with just 5 percent increase in the non-plan fund allocation, the lowest in the history of the university. This has happened at a time when all other sources of revenue of the university have dried up and the university finds it difficult to run even its day to day affairs. The non-plan fund is used to meet expenses including salary and pension, travel, medical reimbursement and repairs and maintenance of equipment and vehicles. In the previous years, the increase in non-plan fund in the budget was in the range of 20-32 percent.
“The university has to now find an additional '2.5 crore for paying salaries and pensions after using the '10 crore that is apportioned monthly from the non-plan fund given by the government. The coffers of the university have dried up after transferring assets worth '650 crore in self-financing institutions controlled by it to a society. This happened after the university was forced to stop another income generation source of off-campus centres. The emergence of the Kerala Technological University and the Kerala University of Health Sciences have dealt a body blow to MG University as several income generating institutions under MGU were transferred to these universities,” said N Mahesh, president, MG University Employees Union.
“With the state budget increase taking the total non-plan fund to Rs 130 crore, the university will not be able to pay annual increments of employees. The largest increase in non-plan fund of 32 percent was given by the UDF Government in 2013-14. The increase from Rs 24 crore in plan fund last year to Rs 25 crore this year is wrongly interpreted by certain quarters as sanctioning of a large sum of Rs 25 crore,” said Ashiq M M Kamal, general secretary of the employees union.
