Teachers and non-teaching employees working in nearly 136 aided colleges across Punjab have been facing severe financial hardship as the Punjab Government has allegedly failed to release the grant-in-aid funds since January this year.
The delay has left thousands of employees without salaries for the past several months, triggering resentment among staff members and prompting union representatives to approach the state government for immediate intervention.
The Punjab Government provides 95 per cent grant-in-aid to 136 privately managed aided colleges under the state’s grant-in-aid scheme. The funds are primarily meant for payment of salaries to teaching and non-teaching staff employed in these institutions.
As per the existing system, the government releases the grants every two months. However, college authorities and employee unions said that no grant has been released since January, severely affecting the functioning of the institutions and the livelihood of employees.
Sources said the Punjab Government annually provides nearly Rs 300 crore as grant-in-aid to aided colleges across the state. The prolonged delay in release of grants has reportedly pushed many employees into financial distress, with staff members struggling to meet household expenses, loan repayments, school fees of children and other essential expenditures.
Amid growing concern, a delegation of the Non-Teaching Employees Union, Punjab, met with Punjab’s Higher Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains at Anandpur Sahib on Friday evening to raise the issue of pending grants and delayed salaries.
During the meeting, the union delegation informed Bains that employees of aided colleges had not been paid salaries for several months because grants had not been released by the government.
The delegation urged the government to immediately clear the pending grants to prevent further hardship to employees.
According to union representatives, Bains took serious notice of the issue and immediately issued directions over the phone to concerned department officials to resolve the matter at the earliest.
Union leaders expressed hope that the intervention by the minister would help expedite the release of funds.
Sharing details of the meeting, Press Secretary of the Non-Teaching Employees Union, Punjab, Tejinder Singh said another delegation of the union also separately met H.S. Brar, Director Public Instructions (Colleges), Punjab, regarding the issue and other pending demands of employees working in aided colleges.
The delegation highlighted before Brar that both teaching and non-teaching employees had been facing immense financial difficulties due to non-payment of salaries caused by delayed release of government grants. The union members urged the department to ensure immediate disbursal of funds so that salaries could be released without further delay.
Members of the delegation, who met with the Education Minister included Punjab’s Non-Teaching Employees Union President Swinder Singh Gola, General Secretary Jagdeep Singh, Organising Secretary Prem Singh, Gajinder Singh and Ravinderpal Singh from Sri Guru Teg Bahadur Khalsa College, Anandpur Sahib.
Meanwhile, despite repeated attempts, Bains could not be contacted for his opinion on the issue.
The delay in release of grants has brought to notice the fore fragile financial condition of aided colleges in Punjab, many of which depend heavily on government assistance for payment of staff salaries and day-to-day operations.
Employee unions have warned that if the grants are not released soon, protests could intensify in the coming days.
