Muzaffarpur, Jan. 10: The annual budget of Babsaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar Bihar University, Muzaffarpur, has triggered concern among the varsity officials even before being cleared by the senate.

The annual budget of Rs 611 crore, prepared by the university’s accounts department after a month-long consultations and assessment, is an improvement of Rs 46 crore over the last year’s budget of Rs 565 crore. However, the budget is still deficit by Rs 60 crore from the actual amount that the varsity requires to go ahead with its development plan.

The university completed its annual budget for 2012-13 yesterday after a detailed discussion with its think-tank, including vice-chancellor (VC) Bimal Kumar, pro-vice-chancellor Padmasha Jha, registrar A.P. Mishra and finance officer JPN Singh.

Earlier, the university had decided to prepare an annual budget of Rs 600 crore for 2012-13 but the calculation slightly increased after assessing certain requirements. The university incorporated a plan to beautify the administrative and postgraduate departments in the annual budget. However, a few other plans had to be shelved in order to keep the budget close to the permissible limit of Rs 600 crore), as instructed by the authorities, said varsity officials.

Talking to The Telegraph, Bimal Kumar said the university’s finance committee, headed by him, has already approved the budget plan. Now the draft has to be passed by the syndicate, including 10 senior officials of the varsity, and the senate of 110 members, which includes varsity officials, teachers, students’ representatives, local MPs, MLAs and senior administrative officials.

The budget will be tabled in the syndicate meeting on January 12. The final senate meeting is proposed on January 16. Thereafter, the university would send the budget plan to the state government. The budget amount will not be changed in the meetings, only new suggestions will be incorporated, said varsity officials.

The VC said the university, after a detailed discussion with teachers, administrative and finance officials included plans to organise convocation and national seminars besides cultural and recreational activities.

The budget also includes renovation of the auditorium, central library and study centre.

General secretary of Bihar University Service Teachers’ Association Arun Kumar Singh, who is also a member of the senate, said that the state government has stopped funding the constituent colleges. As a result, the constituent colleges are facing acute dearth of infrastructure.

The internal resources of the university and constituent colleges are dwindling. The state government has not provided the annul grant to the colleges to cope with the financial difficulties. On the other hand, the government is unwilling to revise the fees structure of the colleges, which has added to the varsity’s financial woes, officials said.