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Nagpur: The higher education in state is in a muddle and does not appear to be improving any time soon. The scholarships which were being provided to students of marginalised sections by the state government remain pending for more than two years now.
State government, by the means of Social Justice Department, had been issuing the scholarships, to marginalised students of all the faculties of state universities and colleges affiliated to them. Under the scheme, EBC (Economically Backward Classes) were given a scholarship of around 50 percent. Similarly, students of NT (Nomadic Tribe), DT (Denotified Tribe) and VJNT (Vimukta Jati & Nomadic Tribe) received a scholarship of 100 percent. However, state government is not taking the scholarships seriously for a past few years. The situation has reached to a level that the portal of online scholarships has been shut down in the name of ‘System Upgradation’ for past six months.
A catch-22 for the colleges:
On one hand, the State and the Central Government are dealing with the issuance of scholarships in a highly lenient manner and on the other, they have been pressurising the colleges to follow sixth/ seventh pay commissions while paying the appointed faculties.
Consequences of the prevailing condition:
The consequences of the same, is now affecting the education of the students. The issue of scholarships used to be beneficial for economic status of colleges also. However, as a result of lack of funds, the colleges are appointing teachers with low teaching experience on lower pay scales. This, in turn, is degrading the quality of education. Colleges also fail in attracting Big-shot companies to their campuses for placements. The students, thus, land up in inferior jobs which drastically affect their career.
What will be the fate of education in the state?
Several colleges are also being shut down raising unanswered questions on the upcoming fate of education in the state. The colleges which are being planned to be shut down have been issued time till September this year to provide information about which departments will be shut down. They are also to provide detailed information about relocation of students after the shut down. It is to be mentioned here that colleges are required to take an NOC from State Social Justice Department and Banks. Most of the colleges have pending loans without which they could not be closed.
