Since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has assumed power in 2014, the universities and academic institutions from all over the country have found themselves in a pickle. While the Occupy UGC protest was in its full momentum earlier this year, now, the hundreds of unaided colleges across the state Punjab have declared a shut-down, as per this report.
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The state government has failed to disburse the scholarship amount worth under post-matric scholarship scheme meant for scheduled caste (SC) and backward classes (BC) students. To protest government’s failure in disbursing the funds allegedly worth Rs 480 crore, 13 different association of colleges from Punjab have decided to participate in the bandh and hoist black flag on their institutes, according to a Times of India report. These associations include engineering colleges, including engineering colleges, polytechnic institutes, nursing colleges, ayurvedic colleges, dental colleges, ETT institutes and B Ed colleges. The unaided colleges have claimed that despite their several attempts, the government has failed to disburse the scholarship funds.
Jagjit Singh, president of federation of self-financed BEd colleges of Punjab told Times of India, "Two years ago, unaided colleges were asked not to charge any fees from SC and BC students by the state government. Moreover, the examination fees of these students too were deposited from college funds but till date despite repeated representation to the CM and deputy CM, the government is not releasing Rs 80 crore for 2.86 lakh students for the 2014-15 academic session and Rs 400 crore of 3 lakh students of for 2015-16." He said if government did not release the money, the next action plan would be decided after Friday as colleges have reached on the verge of closure.
Sabrangindia had reported earlier that over 20,000 research scholars from all over the country were affected by the decision of the central government to change the policy regarding the Non-NET fellowship. The students had protested the government’s stand with its Occupy UGC campaign, which had forced the government to retract its proposal to cancel the Non-net fellowships for the research scholars. However, as the Punjab colleges demonstrated a shut-down, the issue of the scholarships has cropped up once again.