We all give our library security fund almost casually and most of us forget to claim it back at the end of the year. Thanks to this habit, at the School of Open Learning an amount of over Rs 18 crore has been found sitting in the varsity coffers.
An RTI application filed by Faculty of Law student Mohit K. Gupta revealed that SOL has a total unclaimed amount of Rs 18.25 crore as a result of the library security deposits made from 1997 to March 2017.
SOL Director C.S. Dubey asserted that the institution is now planning to use this money, accumulated over the last 20 years, to upgrade the library facilities. He added, “It is the student’s responsibility to claim the security refund back as a mechanism of any university.”
The finance branch of the University of Delhi has claimed that the lapsed security deposits are currently credited to the Vice-Chancellor’s Students Funds Account, which has allegedly been suspected of keeping funds of approximately Rs 1 crore.
The library security amount for undergraduate students from the year 1997 to 2000 was Rs 50 while for postgraduate students it was Rs 100. The amount was then increased to Rs 100 for UG students and Rs 150 for the PG students from the years 2000 to 2003.
As of now, the SOL charges Rs 200 from undergraduate students and Rs 500 from postgraduate students as the library security amount, which can be claimed once the course is over.
The buildup of funds via unacknowledged security deposits must be a story of various university libraries. Ideally, investments should be made out of such funds in the interests of the students.
Feature Image Credits: School of Open Learning
Niharika Dabral
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