Starved of funds, Hampi varsity struggling for survival

Hampi: Faced with a shortage of funds and dwindling student numbers, the Hampi Kannada University, started 33 years ago to foster research, is facing an existential crisis.

Successive vice-chancellors have been writing to the governments requesting additional funds, including as recently as a fortnight ago when vice-chancellor D V Paramashivamurthy wrote to the chief minister for his personal intervention. However, university officials say their demands are falling on deaf ears.

According to documents available with DH, the university has to clear at least Rs 2.63 crore dues to contractors who provided human resources, mainly group C and D employees and contract teaching and non-teaching staff. The dues have accumulated since 2021. However, this financial year, it received only Rs 1.92 crore, which it has to use to pay salaries of 19 guest lecturers (Rs 48 lakh annually) and 72 non-teaching staff (Rs 1.44 crore).

The vice chancellor and registrar told DH that they were unable to clear dues to paucity of funds. Hampi University is perhaps the only research institute in India that is dedicated to one language.

Dwindling funds and increasing teachers' vacancies have meant that student enrolments have been drastically falling by the year. While there were 446 students conducting research in the language, culture and history of Kannada last academic year, this year, there are only 101 studying at the university, which faces an existential crisis. 

The university is expecting enrolment of another 180-200 students as researchers.

Poor applications have forced the university to stop two courses this academic year, while six other departments have not got even 10 students, .

The fall in the number of doctoral researchers is attributed to a lack of permanent staff and resource persons. Of the 73 sanctioned posts, 35 are vacant. In the next two-three years, another 15-18 professors, who could guide researchers, will retire. This will result in a further reduction in students opting for PhD at the University.

"Fee paid by researchers, UG and PG students forms a large chunk of our internal resources. Last year, we collected around Rs 45 lakh as fees and other payments. However, this year, even these funds have been reduced. Unlike other general universities, which get affiliation fees, our university completely depends on government sourcing," says registrar Vijay Poonacha Thambanda.

He says the university needs at least Rs 5 crore annually, which it used to receive a decade ago. 

The situation is so dire that Gulbarga Electricity Supply Company Ltd had disconnected the power supply to the university twice over non-payment of dues last year.

Paramashivamurthy says the university is unable to fulfil its mandate of conducting research and publication related to Kannada language and literature. "We have been requesting the government to allocate sufficient funds and human resources to ensure that we conduct meaningful research related to one of the classical languages of India." The university has so far published more than 1,600 research papers related to Kannada.

Higher Education Department Principal Secretary Srikar M S says it is taking care of the salaries and pension, which form a large chunk of funds required for the university.

"There are budget constraints. The universities should also generate funds through their internal resources and other means such like MoUs, research works, publications, donations and CSR funds. The government is willing to address any additional requirements in consultation with the Finance Department, if there are specific requirements,” he says.