Bengal colleges fear erosion of autonomy as govt. demands bank account details for aid
'The Finance Department has introduced the Fund Information System (FIS) portal from the financial year 2025-26, and it is mandatory to provide bank account details and FD details to get any financial assistance from the State government,' said the Department of Higher Education in a circular issued earlier this week.
No official explanation has been given about the move, and principals of these aided colleges have refrained from commenting. However, some academicians are expressing their concern over the matter, and they feel that the government might 'dig into their resources'.
'The State government is reducing the funds for education in all sectors. Recruitment of teachers has been halted. Research funds are crunched. Universities are autonomous bodies that have raised resources for a long time through their research, advocacy and industry-institute partnership programmes,' said Ishita Mukhopadhyay, a professor of economics at the University of Calcutta.
Stating that several teachers' associations had expressed their anger against the government's move, she said, 'This move is just to siphon off these resources to the government for no reason. This is an attack on the financial and academic autonomy of state educational institutions. This will further deprive the students, who are already suffering from delayed admission and lack of funds.'
Meanwhile, an associate professor with a Kolkata college who did not want to be identified said, 'The State government is already taking half of the total tuition fees collected in a year. This notification makes us believe that the corpus fund of colleges in the form of FDs and bank balances can be taken away. The colleges need such funds for various development projects like construction of new buildings, renovation and repair, extensions of existing buildings, conduct of events, particularly when the UGC hardly extends any financial help as it did before till the 12th Plan.'
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