The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has received a loan of Rs 455 crore from the Higher Education Funding Agency (HEFA) for construction of new academic buildings, hostels, research centres and installation of an integrated and unified Enterprise Resource Planning System.
In a press statement dated 4 August, JNU Vice Chancellor Jagadesh Kumar Mamidala said that funds allotted will be used for the construction of a vast range of infrastructure-related projects on campus.
“The funds allotted by HEFA shall be utilised for the construction of hostels for students and researchers of School of Engineering and Atal Bihari Vajpayee School of Management & Entrepreneurship, Trans-Disciplinary Academic Research, Advanced Animal Research Facility...”Jagadesh Kumar Mamidala, JNU Vice Chancellor
VC Mamidala said that the Advanced Instrumentation Research Facility, incubation centre for start-up companies, special care centre for E-learning and a lecture hall complex will be set up, among other work.
The statement further adds that the unified and integrated Enterprise Resource Planning system will help in ensuring that all academic and administrative processes can be conducted online in an integrated manner.
Additionally, the varsity mentioned that the Special Centre for E-learning would benefit approximately 1.1 lakh candidates on an average who fail to secure admission at the central varsity every year.
“The Special Centre for E-learning shall impart education by offering online degree programs to many such students who could not be admitted in JNU. These students can benefit from the expertise of JNU faculty,” the statement added.
JNUTA Opposes Loan
Set-up in 2017, HEPA was brought about to gather funds from private and public sectors and offer them as loans to educational institutions. While the interest on this loan is mentioned in the government’s books, the principal amount is repaid by the institutions. Prion to this, institutional expansion was funded by government grants.
Meanwhile, the JNU Teacher’s Union has expressed reservations about the loan. “As can be seen, this is a replacement of public funding for infrastructure development with loans whose terms cannot possibly be better than grants where no repayment obligation exists,” it said in a statement.
Reacting to the news, AISA National President N Sai Balaji asked on Twitter “How will JNU repay? Through increasing Students' FEE’s (sic)”
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