Colleges, Institutes In Maharashtra Sitting Over Rs 500 Crores Of Students’ Caution Money, Lab Fees And Library Charges

Mumbai, 28th May 2022: The directorate of technical education (DTE) has issued orders to joint directors to collect details on unclaimed funds from all colleges under their jurisdiction within the next 30 days.

This order has been issued by taking serious note of the vast amounts of unclaimed funds sitting idle in the coffers of government polytechnic and aided colleges as well as private technical institutes across Maharashtra.

The DTE’s directive directs the joint directors to compile year-by-year information on refundable caution money, laboratory, and library fees received over time. It’s worth noting that the state has almost 1,800 technical institutes and colleges.

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The DTE has stated that this is the final order it will issue in this matter. It will then submit a thorough report to the Ministry of Higher and Technical Education.

“I have issued directives to all joint directors to produce a full report of refundable money lying with all colleges and institutes concerned,” said DTE director Dr Abhay Wagh.

He added, “Following a discussion with Higher and Technical Minister Uday Samant, the data collection process has begun. It’ll take at least a month to complete. Following receipt of the report, appropriate action will be taken. A Right to Information (RTI) request in February 2021 revealed that the total amount of money collected under these headings by several colleges in Pune, Mumbai, Nagpur, Thane, and other districts – including technical and non-technical colleges – had left unclaimed balances totaling over Rs 500 crore.”

Pramod Naik, Joint Director, DTE, said, “We have issued a final notice to 1,800 technical institutes including the government polytechnic colleges. A report will be submitted to the directorate subsequent to checking their account statements. We have directed the divisional joint directors of Mumbai, Pune, Nashik, Aurangabad, Amravati, and Nagpur to immediately submit feedback regarding the action taken by their subordinate institutions on the deposit not returned to the students.”