The Asian Age: New Delhi: Tuesday, June 13, 2017.
Besides
classrooms, libraries are the practice ground and research mines for
academicians and students. However, Delhi University (DU) has a different saga
where the students are now digging deep into the financial trail of lapsed
library security deposits using thorough study of RTI law and unearthing
serious administrative irregularities.
DU law
students Mohit K. Gupta and Vikas delved deeper into the administration of the
library’s functioning and found that an amount of Rs 1 crore which is the
refundable library fee that was submitted by students at the time of admission
in the past five years is lying with the varsity.
The varsity’s
reply to several RTIs filed to enquire about the library security fee deposited
and refunded during 2012-2016 is indicative of administrative lethargy.
“While the
fee receipt issued by law faculty does provide the aggregate of total fee
charged, without writing the amount charged towards the refundable library
security, the schedule of fee contained in hard copy of the prospectus has been
discontinued since 2014. Hence, students are clueless whether they are entitled
to any such refund,” Vikas said.
The data
reveals that while the library security refund for faculty of law is only at a
maximum of 2 per cent with one Law Centre-II at nil per cent in the last five
years, the department of education has returned 72 per cent of what it received
as refundable deposits. Delhi School of Economics and Faculty of Management
Studies returned 25 and 72 per cent of refundable deposits respectively.
“This is a
complete case of red-tapism whereby the students are made to go from office to
office for Rs 500 and the burden increases when the fee receipt is not
available. A student not possessing the fee receipt is not considered to have
paid the library security deposit. Strangely, students cannot sit for final
semester exams without getting library clearance,” quoted Mr Gupta.