Funds crunch bogs down YVU development

Kadapa: Yogi Vemana University, the brainchild of the late chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, is at present hit by severe fund crunch, though the varsity remained at the forefront in matters of academics before the demise of the leader. The callous attitude of the government and the people’s representatives of the district have further bogged down the spirit of development in the varsity.

As the government has not released the budget of Rs 135 crore for the current year as was expected, this resulted in the stoppage of works like construction of new buildings.

Apart from this, the education sector took a backseat in the district after the death of YSR. When YSR was alive, the university enjoyed top priority with liberal release of grants. Established in 2006, the late chief minister released Rs 110 crore as first installment. Of this, Rs 35.50 crore was spent for construction of Sir C.V. Raman Science Bhavan, a hostel block with eight clusters, four dining halls, and a guest house. The second leg of works commenced with Rs 75 crore, while Rs 29 crore was released. However, the contractors did works to the tune of Rs 41 crore. On this count, an amount of Rs 30 crore was paid to them, an amount of Rs 11.91 crore is yet to be released to clear the arrears. The contractors are now demanding that the government should release at least Rs 10 crore, without which the works could not be resumed. At present, there are 31 departments in the varsity, several of them are being run under sheds with zinc and iron sheets, putting the students and staff to a lot of inconvenience during the rains.

In addition, the number of research scholars too has increased. This has projected the dire need for more funds. Ironically, after the death of YSR, the government had earmarked only Rs 1.84 crore to the varsity towards construction requirements. The problem got further clumsy with the ruling party leaders dividing into two groups in the district.

(Source: DC, 31st Oct’10)