From Our Correspondent
Silchar, May 10: The University Grants Commission (UGC), a government body instituted for the purpose of coordition, determition and maintence of standards of higher education in the country, allocates grant-in-aid from public funds to the central universities and other institutions of higher learning of the country. All the states in the country receive UGC Grants for the purpose of upliftment and developments of their respective higher educatiol institutions. But sadly this is not the case for Government run B.Ed colleges in the state of Assam.
During the time of the government headed by Prafulla Kumar Mahanta, the administration of the these B.Ed colleges was transferred from the Department of Higher Education to the Department of Elementary Education. Due to this decision, taken without assessing its consequences, these B.Ed colleges stopped receiving grants from the UGC as it does not entertain any recommendation of the Department of Elementary Education. Because of lack of farsightedness, on part of the then bureaucracy and political establishment, these colleges do not get any grants or favours from the UGC and the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) sponsored schemes. No state in India, with the exception of Assam, according to the information received from the MHRD, Shastri Bhavan, avoids Central Grants to maintain their respective B.ED colleges.
The B.Ed colleges in Assam, consequently are maintained by the government of Assam by its own funds which has led to a fund crunch in this institutions. The shortage of funds has become a road block in the path of development in infrastructure of these academic institutions. Even the subsidy for college teaching staff’s salary is not forthcoming from the Central Government. The losses accumulated due to this self-opinioted decision, has resulted in fincial losses to the state exchequer to the tune of around Rs.100 crore.
It is high time that the present state government looks into the matter and rectifies the fault in the system to improve the academic conditions of the B.Ed colleges running in the state. This issue was highlighted by Prof. Dilip Kumar Dey, former principal of Government Teachers’ Training College, Silchar in a letter to Sarat Borkataki, Education Minister of Assam, a copy of which is with The Sentinel. The copy has also been forwarded to Commissioner of Fince Department, and Secretary to the Chief Minister, Assam, for their kind attention to the fincial loss of Assam by Prof. Dey.