UGC keeps varsities guessing on release of grants for hostels

Hyderabad: The University Grants Commission (UGC) which is asking all universities to focus on creating a safer and gender-equitable atmosphere in colleges and higher education institutions has issued specific guidelines on running women's hostels for safety and sanctioning grants for their construction.

The UGC provides block grants for the construction of various kinds of buildings in universities. They include construction of hostels. It also provides block grants for the construction of girls' hotels in colleges.

However, according to OU officials, "it is more than a year since the university applied for grants to construct hostels and waiting for sanction of funds by the UGC. There is no word about when it will be released.

Similarly, several colleges which have applied for grants from Telangana remained clueless about when the apex higher education regulator will release them.

According to UGC, the main objective of the scheme is to support all eligible colleges for construction of women's hostels to provide a residential place for students, research scholars, teachers and other staff.

The grant varies depending on the number of women enrolled for the past three academic sessions preceding the date on which the application for the grant was submitted. If the number of students enrolled stands at 100 to 250, the maximum grant would be Rs 1.2 crore, and if the enrollment is between 251 and 500, the grant stands at Rs 1.8 crore. In the case of more than 500 students, the UGC says the grant would be Rs 2.4 crore.

According to UGC, the eligible institutions include colleges declared fit under Section 2(f) and declared fit to receive Central assistance under Section 12 of the UGC Act. Besides, the college has to be accredited by NAAC after two batches or six years of establishment. Colleges whose

Institutional Information for Quality Assessment" (IIQA), are accepted by NAAC and are also considered under the scheme to extend grants for construction of hostels.

Apart, the colleges are mandated to register in the PFMS portal.The unregistered colleges that intend to avail the grants have to submit a prescribed annexure at the regional UGC offices for registration. Each college should also have registered with the UGC's E-schemes Port to submit online application.

While self-finance colleges are not eligible under the scheme, those colleges applying for grants for construction of hostels should have their own land. Once the application is approved by UGC, 50 per cent of the approved grant will be released after receiving the bond executed by the college planning board (CPB). And, 40 per cent of the approved grant is released on receipt of the audited utilisation certificate and audited statement of income and expenditure along with the progress report of the first instalment indicating the stage of construction. The remaining 10 per cent of the grant will be released on receipt of the completion documents.