Among the 37 central universities of India, Central University of Jharkhand (CUJ) has secured the first position in utilising the grant released by the University Grants Commission (UGC) till March 31.
The university has utilised around 73.74 per cent amount out of a total grant of `10,074 lakh released by the commission under the 12th Plan Allocation. The fund was released for the infrastructure development of the university at its permanent campus of Cheri-Manatu.
Highlighting on the remaining percentage of utilisation by the university administration, an official source on Saturday said that `29,850 lakh grant was allocated by the UGC to CUJ out of which `10,074 lakh was released. “This releasing amount has made difficult for us to continue our construction work at Cheri-Manatu creating financial crunch as we have already spent the maximum amount.”
“The achievement could be attained only under the dynamic leadership of founder Vice Chancellor DT Khathing whose vision and efforts led the university to peak position among the central universities,” the official maintained.
The analysis report obtained from the UGC clearly indicates that the CUJ by virtue of its policies and planning had achieved the physical progress which accessed and stand at `155 crore approximately as on December 31 wherein the UGC has released only `80 crore till February 25 against the ‘Grant of Capital Assets (Non-Recurring) (35)’.
Also, it mentions that in such circumstances, the CUJ is entitled to get `75 crore immediately from the commission to clear its pending liabilities against the created capital assets at its permanent campus whereas the other central universities established along with CUJ could not fully utilise the already released funds.
CUJ authorities have set a deadline of December 2014 to complete its first phase of campus work. Since the establishment of the university in 2009, it is functioning at a temporary campus in Brambe, situated around 25 kilometers drive from the State capital.
The Central University of Tamil Nadu is on the second rank in terms of fund utilisation, which includes campus development.