The Congress-affiliated National Students Union of India (NSUI) on Tuesday staged a protest over the Delhi government's directive to 12 DU colleges, fully funded by it, to pay outstanding salaries to employees from the Students Society Fund.

NSUI National President Neeraj Kundan said the students' fund is part of fees collected from students and according to university statutes it cannot be utilised for paying salaries to teachers.

"On one hand, the Delhi government says that it allocates such a high budget for education and on the other, here, it is not ready to give grants for payment of salaries. We demand that the order be revoked and government releases grants to these colleges," he said.

The Delhi government on Friday directed the 12 Delhi University colleges fully funded by it to pay outstanding salaries to staffers from the Students Society Fund, a move criticised by DU's teachers' body and officials of the university.

It has ordered a special audit of six colleges -- Deen Dayal Upadhyaya College, Maharishi Valmiki B Ed College, Keshav Mahavidyalaya, Aditi Mahavidyalaya, Bhagini Nivedita College and Shaheed Sukhdev College of Business Studies.

The government and 12 colleges fully funded by it have been locked in a tussle over the release of grants, with the latter saying they have been unable to pay salaries to staffers for nearly three months owing to non-release of funds.