Chandigarh, Dec. 22 -- Despite sustained deficits in several accounts, Post Graduate Government College for Girls (PGGCG), Sector 11, continued to incur expenditure from self-financing and other college funds, an audit of pupil funds between April 2019 to March 2025 has found. According to the audit, self-financing courses such as BCA, PGDCA and MSc IT are required to meet their expenditure strictly from their own income. Adjusting expenses against other funds is not permitted under the rules. However, the audit found that payments continued to be made despite persistent deficits in these accounts. The BCA fund, for instance, had a negative balance of Rs.1.30 crore in March 2019, which worsened to Rs.2.03 crore by March 2025. Despite this, expenditure - largely towards salaries and essential services - continued. In December 2020 alone, payments exceeding Rs.10.55 lakh were made even as the fund showed a deficit of over Rs.2 crore. The audit further noted that 15 PLA funds showed negative balances as of March 31, 2025, with a cumulative deficit of Rs.7.77 crore. This occurred despite the college's overall PLA balance remaining in surplus. The practice of meeting expenditure of one fund from another was found to be in violation of the Pupil Fund Rules, 1958, especially since the central treasury does not maintain fund-wise accounts. In a broader context, it has also been observed that self-financed courses across PU institutions have struggled to sustain themselves solely on their own revenue streams, often requiring fiduciary support from the university. The audit also observed that similar issues had been flagged in an earlier report covering April 2013 to March 2019, but no safeguards were put in place to prevent recurrence. Responding to the observations, Anita Kaushal, who served as principal and drawing and disbursing officer (DDO) during the audit period, said the expenditure was incurred in good faith and in students' interest. She cited salary obligations towards contractual faculty, directions from the directorate of higher education, and court protections as reasons, adding that the college's amalgamated funds remained overall in surplus. While noting the explanation, the audit reiterated that self-financing course funds cannot be adjusted against other balances and recommended corrective steps to restore positive balances. It also suggested a policy decision on whether multiple self-financing courses could be clubbed for financial accounting....