Red tape leaves UGC’s social inclusion scheme in limbo, leads to salary crisis

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File photo of the University Grants Commission (UGC) office in New Delhi. | Photo Credit: Sushil Kumar Verma

Seven months into the current financial year, 24 central universities still await the renewal of the University Grants Commission’s (UGC) flagship scheme for teaching and conducting research on marginalised communities.

The Centre for the Study of Social Inclusion in Universities (CSSIU) earlier began as a five-year plan in 2007-08. This now runs as a UGC scheme renewed annually from April to March each year.

In a written reply to The Hindu, the Ministry of Education (MoE) stated, “The proposal regarding the continuation of the CSSIU Scheme for the Financial Year 2026-27 is currently under process.”

Prominent universities that conduct two-year Master’s programmes and five-year PhD courses under the centre include Banaras Hindu University, Jamia Millia Islamia, the University of Hyderabad, the Tata Institute of Social Sciences and Panjab University, amongst others. Apart from teaching, these centres also conduct specialised outreach activities focused on tribal and disadvantaged populations.

Because the scheme is renewed on an annual cycle from April to March, administrative lags have crippled payroll systems in universities. For the financial year 2026-27, while the continuation order for the scheme remains stuck in bureaucratic processing, teaching and non-teaching staff working in these centres either have salaries delayed or remain unpaid.

On condition of anonymity, a professor teaching in one of these centres said: “While our university paid salaries for August 2026 after a delay of about 20 days, our September salaries have currently been withheld entirely. We have been indicated that payouts will only be made after the extension nod arrives from the centre.”

Staff members also recall that non-payment of salaries was a recurring ordeal between 2019 and 2024. “Non-payment of salaries on time causes a great deal of hardship for faculty and non-teaching staff. Such uncertainties have led to a flight of faculty and students, thus undermining the academic objectives behind the centre,” the professor added.

In response to The Hindu’s queries, the Education Ministry stated in a written reply that financial assistance to universities under the CSSIU scheme operates on a reimbursement basis, subject to document verification.

According to the Ministry, ₹26.05 crore was released on a reimbursement basis to 18 centres for the 2024-25 period. Additionally, a provisional grant calculated at 60% of the previous year’s funding — up to ₹7.59 crore — was released in advance for 2025-26, taking the total disbursed amount for that period to ₹33.64 crore.

“The settlement of accounts for the financial year 2025-26 is currently under process, subject to the receipt and verification of the requisite documents from the respective centres,” the Ministry stated.

It also stated that the proposal regarding the continuation of CSSI Scheme for 2026-27 is currently under process.

Despite the critical role played by the CSSIU scheme in researching and advocating for marginalised communities, the centres routinely operated on ad-hoc, annual extensions. The uncertainty over annual renewal of the UGC scheme has also deprived long-serving staff, those with over 15 years of uninterrupted service — of fundamental employment protections, performance appraisals, and career promotions.

There have been repeated calls by universities running these centres for their structural integration into the university framework. In a formal communication accessed by The Hindu, Jamia Millia Islamia’s Registrar, Mahtab Alam Rizvi, wrote to UGC Joint Secretary Ashima Mangla on July 15, urging the Commission to merge the sanctioned teaching and non-teaching posts of the CSSIU into the university’s regular establishment. This communication marked the university’s third official reminder to the UGC, following earlier appeals sent on December 9, 2024, and March 17, 2025.

“The non-regularisation of long-serving staff is in violation of the landmark State of Karnataka v. Uma Devi judgment of the Supreme Court, which held that employees working in government setups continuously for 10 years or more ought to be considered for regularisation,” said a faculty member who did not wish to be quoted.

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