Hampi Kannada University's financial crisis seems to have worsened with its administrative section unable even to pay scholarships for students from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) communities for the academic year 2023-24.
In all, 130 SC/ST postgraduate and PhD scholars have not received their scholarships despite repeated requests to officials from the administrative section. They have threatened to stage a protest soon.
The officials, however, blame it on the fund crunch being faced by the university, stated a report by The New Indian Express.
A few months ago, the local electricity supply company disconnected power supply to the university as it failed to clear two years' power bills.
Electricity supply was restored after the state government intervened and promised the company that steps would be taken to clear the dues soon.
These apart, over 100 contract workers have not been paid their salaries for the past eight months. They too are being promised that their salary arrears will be cleared soon.
A postgraduate student from the SC community said, “More than 130 SC/ST students have not received their scholarships. Many of them depend on scholarships to meet their expenses on books and other study materials. If the government fails to release funds soon, it would become difficult for the students to manage.”
He said, “Last month, a minister visited our university. During discussions, we raised the scholarship issue and he promised that funds would be released soon to the university. The minister did not respond positively despite repeated requests by the students' union. We will stage a protest soon if scholarships are not given to us.”
A senior administrative official said, “We have written to the government, but have not received any response yet. We will follow it up with the minister concerned and try to get scholarships for the SC/ST students within a month. We request them to be patient till then.”
